Tacos And Tea Parties
by ReganX
Summary: Readjusting to life after years in Pylea was difficult enough for an adult. How would a child cope?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.  
**  
Requirements:  
**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note: **I probably shouldn't be starting another story, but this challenge was irresistible.

* * *

**Prologue.**

For a library, this place is boring and noisy, not like the one at home.

Her Mommy said that she could stay for Story Hour while her parents unpacked the boxes of stuff that had been shipped up from Texas, but the book the lady dressed up as a fairy is reading is babyish.

The other kids, some of them a bit older than she is, listen with bated breath as the story unfolds, cheering every time their entertainer displays the pictures, anxiously waiting to see whether or not the wolf will be able to fool Little Red Riding Hood.

She knows how this story ends.

She read it when she was three and a half.

Even though she's only four and three eighths, she's already read most of the books in the 'Six Years and Under' section; she even knows some of her favourites off by heart.

Most grown ups think that she's only looking at the pictures, they don't believe that she can read by herself.

Her Daddy says she can because she's his little genius.

The little hand on the clock is pointing to two and the big hand is pointing to three, which means that it'll be nearly an hour before her Mommy comes to collect her.

The lady reading aloud doesn't notice her get up and slip away, looking for something to occupy herself with until her mother arrives.

A man, taller that her daddy but not as old as him, is pushing a trolley through the grown ups' shelves, putting the books back in their places.

She figures that these books must be good if people like to read him, so she follows him on his rounds, noting where he puts the books, so that she can come back and pick out her favourite.

"You lost, munchkin?" The librarian smiles at her as he places a heavy book on one of the shelves. "The children's books are on the other side."

"I'm okay, thank you." She speaks with as much dignity as she can muster.

He laughs a little. "Suit yourself, kid."

He moves off, pushing the trolley and the remaining books.

She is about to follow him, when the poorly stacked volume falls, narrowly missing her toe.

The book has a funny smelling black cover, as different from the cheerily jacketed books in the children's section as could be. It's very heavy and she has to hold it tightly with both hands to keep from dropping it.

Curious, she opens the books and leafs through the pages.

The words are weird.

Balancing the book precariously, she traces the word with her finger, carefully sounding them out.

"K-R-V D-R-P-G-L-R P-W-L-Z . . ."

The shelves start to glow and swirl until a big blue hole appears in their place.

She tries to catch hold of something, anything, as she is pulled into the hole, going who knows where.

She screams, but nobody hears her.

* * *

_**Two years later.**_

"Fred disappeared about two years ago." The woman handed Cordelia a missing person's notice, bearing the picture of a smiling little girl with long brown pigtails. "They never found her."

TBC.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.  
**  
Requirements:  
**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note I: **I won't bore you by going through all of what happened with the Fang Gang in Pylea. I'm going to concentrate more on what happened once they got back. As far as the rest of it goes, what you saw happen on the show happened, but Fred was about four feet tall.

**Author's Note II: **To Imzadi – I'm afraid I can't take credit for the idea. The challenge is the brainchild of gidgetgirl. I don't know if Lindsey will make an appearance.

* * *

**Chapter 1.**

_**Pylea.**_

They idolised him.

It was a situation with which Angel was not entirely uncomfortable.

A cluster of green-skinned children surrounded him, gazing adoringly at him as he retold his adventures, giving him a gratifying round of applause when he gleefully related how he had cut off Lindsey's hand.

Lorne hung back, well away from the crowd, nursing a mug of grog and longing with all his heart to be back in his club with a sea breeze.

If he hadn't hated his family so much, he would have been jealous of the attention they showered on Angel.

As it was, he was just grateful to escape their notice, and the inevitable insults that followed.

"Can we go now?" He didn't care whether he sounded like a petulant child.

The vampire's face fell at the thought of leaving his adoring audience. "I really hate to disappoint the kids." He offered lamely. "They seem to be enjoying this."

"Angel!" Landok, Lorne's cousin – not that he'd paid any attention to him since his less that joyous homecoming – clapped him on the back. "It is time for the Bachnal. You shall swing the Crebbil."

Angel grinned. "Yeah, okay."

Landok and another Pylean hoisted him on their shoulders and circled the platform where a wooden block had been set up, in a lap of honour.

Another pair of demons approached in the opposite direction, presumably carrying the second guest of honour.

Lorne watched the proceedings with the detachment of a naturalist observing the antics of a pack of primitive animals.

Even when he had lived in Pylea, he had not attended many of these so called celebrations and could barely remember what the Bachnal involved, and he strained to recall what a crebbil was.

"Crebbil? Creb . . ."_ /Axe! / _"Angel, Angel, wait."

His warning was drowned out by the cries of 'Swing the Crebbil' coming from the excited crowd.

Angel's grin turned to puzzlement as a heavy, double sided axe was thrust into his hands, then to anger when he looked down to see his intended victim.

She was tiny, no more than six or seven years old, her features completely obscured by her thick curtain of tangled brown hair.

"Make it quick, make it quick, make it quick." Her voice shook as she pleaded with her executioner.

"You want me to . . ." Angel stared at the little girl in horror.

"Sever the calf's head from its body." Lorne's mother bellowed encouragingly.

"Will you not swing the Crebbil?" Landok's expression darkened at this blasphemy.

Moving swiftly, Angel scooped up the little girl, cradling her in one arm and holding the axe threateningly in the other.

"Only if you force me to."

* * *

**_Los Angeles_**

"Yo, that portal jumping is a fun ride." Gunn declared happily. "We sell it to a theme park we could get paid!"

"Gunn!" Cordelia waved a hand in his direction to quiet him. She nodded towards the sleeping child in Angel's arms, whom they had identified as the missing Winifred Burkle. "Ssh."

"Sorry." Gunn lowered his voice sheepishly.

"Can I say it?" Angel's voice was barely above a whisper. "I want to say it." He shifted little Fred into a more comfortable position in his arms. "There's no place like . . .Willow?"

Cordelia, seeing the shock in Angel's face, moved to take Fred from him before he dropped her. "What . . .?"

Angel felt numb. "It's Buffy."

* * *

"Why are you and Angel sad?"

Cordelia did her best to smile at the little girl as she helped her bathe, wash her hair and comb through what must have been two years worth of tangles.

"We got some bad news, sweetie. Something happened to a friend of ours while we were away."

"Is she dead?"

"Yeah." Cordelia impatiently brushed away a tear. Although she and Buffy had never gotten along well, news of the Slayer's death had been a shock, a loss, and a reminder of the fragility of human lives in their line of work. "Now," She bravely tried to find something to distract her. "I'm afraid that we don't have much here you can wear." She said, glancing at the cream coloured dress of Pylean homespun draped over the towel rail. "I'll swipe one of Angel's T-shirts for you to sleep in and I'll pick up some things for you tomorrow, okay?"

"Thank you." Without warning, the little girl burst into tears.

"Fred, honey?" Heedless of the fact that her Pylean princess garb was being drenched with water, Cordelia pulled the little girl into her arms. "What's the matter?"

"You guys are so nice!" Fred sobbed. "And I know that I'm going to wake up soon, and I'll be back in Pylea."

"No, you're not dreaming," Cordelia tried to reassure her. "You're safe now, you're home."

"Really?" Fred looked up at her with watery brown eyes, needing to believe that she was safe.

"Really." Cordelia confirmed, pulling the little girl into a hug. "I promise."

* * *

_**Half an hour later.**_

"How is she?"

"Sleeping." Cordelia reported. "I put her in the room across from yours."

"How old do you think she is?"

"According to the date of birth on the missing person's notice, she's six and a half."

"And she's spent the last two years as a slave in Pylea." Angel mused, grateful to have something to think of other than his grief. "Why would anyone want a six year old slave?"

This question was addressed to Lorne, whose expression spoke volumes about his disgust for his people's ways.

"Some people see it as a good investment." He said scornfully, all traces of his usual joviality gone from his tone. "With an adult 'cow', you can get an average of five, six years of work, up to ten if you're lucky. With children, provided you don't starve or beat them to death, you can get more than twice that. They're usually more broken than the others, so they're less trouble."

"So why try to have her killed?"

"Maybe she didn't work fast enough for them, maybe she got sick a lot, maybe she tried to run away, maybe her owners were just tired of her." Lorne patted Angel's arm. "She's just lucky you were the guest of honour, cream puff." He stood, stretching. "I'd better head back to the club, get started on a clean up. Maybe I should redecorate." He was silent for a few minutes, lost in his plans for a new, improved Caritas. "Goodnight, all."

"Do you think we'll be able to trace her parents?" Cordelia asked, after the green skinned Pylean had left.

"Wesley's going to talk to his contacts at the police station, see what he can find out from them." Angel said. "In the meantime, she'll have to stay here."

"What about you?" Cordelia asked gently. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I should have been there."

"Angel, there was nothing you could have done." She remonstrated gently. "Even if you had been here."

"Maybe not."

"No maybes." Cordelia's tone was kinder than her words. "Besides," She added thoughtfully. "If you hadn't gone to Pylea, there would be hundreds of innocent humans who would still be living as slaves, hell, there's a six year old child upstairs who wouldn't even be alive if you hadn't been there. You're a champion, Angel. You were doing your job, and Buffy was doing hers. You can't blame yourself."

He gave her a weak smile, still not entirely convinced by her words. "Thanks."

The young woman was silent for a moment, scrutinizing her friend's expression, wondering if her words had had any effect on him, wishing that she could do something, anything to lighten the load of his grief, knowing all the while that there was nothing that she could do.

She turned to face him one last time before leaving. "If there's anything you need . . ."

"I'll let you know." Though he gave her a small, grateful smile, there was a definite note of dismissal in his tone. "Goodnight."

* * *

The soft, shuffling sound of bare feet on the lobby floor jolted the vampire from his musings.

"Who's there?" His sharp tone softened when he saw the little girl standing in the doorway of the office, regarding him with wide brown eyes. "Fred." He glanced at his watch. "It's late. What are you doing up?"

"I can't sleep. I had a bad dream." Her voice was so soft that, even with Angel's vampiric hearing, he could barely hear her.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Uh-uh. Can I stay with you?"

"Sure." He held out his hand as she approached, pulling a chair up next to his and helping her onto it. "I don't feel much like sleeping either." He confessed.

"Because you're sad about your friend?"

"Yeah." The pain in his voice was evident, even to a six year old.

Fred lowered her gaze, chewing anxiously on her bottom lip. "I'm sorry." She whispered quietly.

"Why?" He asked gently, puzzled.

"Because its my fault." Her brown eyes filled with tears. "Your friend died while you were in Pylea helping me. That was why you couldn't help her."

"Hey," He cupped her chin in his hand, brushing away her tears with an awkward finger. "None of what happened is your fault, okay? We couldn't have known what was going to happen, and even if we could turn back time, even Buffy would have told me to go to Pylea to help you and all the other humans there, so don't worry about it, okay? And don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault."

She nodded, suppressing a yawn.

'_Good advice.' _For a moment, Angel thought that he could hear Buffy speaking, as though she had been standing right next to him. _'Why not take it yourself?'_

It was true, he reflected, the Slayer would never have wanted him to buy her own life at the cost of Fred's, or of anyone else's, any more than he would have wanted her to sacrifice an innocent for his sake.

He knew that, just as he now knew that he was not responsible for the death of the young woman he loved.

_/Of course, knowing it doesn't make it any easier. / _He thought, furiously blinking away a tear that threatened to fall.

Little Fred, seeing his distress, climbed into his lap, putting her arms around his neck and hugging him comfortingly, as though she was the adult and he the child.

"It's alright to cry." Her voice was soft. "It's okay to be sad and scared. I am. It's okay to cry."

TBC.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.  
**  
Requirements:  
**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping 

**Author's Note I:** I know that on the show Angel went off to that monastery in Sri Lanka to grieve, but I don't see him abandoning a small child for three months.

**Author's Note II: **To gidgetgirl and Imzadi – Little Fred's stay in Pylea was different than adult Fred's. Little Fred was never a fugitive and never lived in a cave – I didn't think it'd be feasible for a little kid - and since Angel won't be leaving she, unlike adult Fred, won't react by locking herself in her room and covering the walls with equations.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 2**

_**The next morning.**_

"Okay, that's gotta be just about the cutest thing I ever saw." Gunn's tone was gleeful. "And me without a camera!"

Cordelia, following his gaze, was only able to restrain herself from giggling with great difficulty.

Of their little group she had known Angel the longest, and over the years she had seen countless sides of him.

She had seen him happy, she had seen him grieving, she had seen him angry, she had seen him brooding – okay, she saw that particular side of him a _lot _– she had seen him in love and she had even seen him soullessly evil.

Witnessing the vampire who had once been known as the Scourge of Europe doubling up as a pillow for a six year old girl was, however, an entirely new experience for her.

Fred was curled up in Angel's lap, her head resting on his chest, her thumb in her mouth, while his arms encircled her protectively.

Both the vampire and the child were fast asleep.

"Should we wake them?" The brunette kept her voice low.

Gunn looked at her as if she had grown an extra head. "Are you crazy? Not 'til I get a picture."

"Vampire hearing, remember?" Angel remarked dryly, opening his eyes and looking up at his two colleagues. He sat up, being careful not to wake the little girl in his arms. "Good morning."

"I picked up a couple of outfits for her this morning." Cordelia told him quietly, nodding in Fred's direction. "They should fit and she and I can go shopping later on."

"Thanks." Angel's tone was grateful. He rose, cradling Fred gently in his arms. "I'm going to put her back to bed before she wakes up." He said quietly, not wanting to disturb her.

Fred murmured sleepily, opening her eyes and rubbing away the sleep sand.

"Too late." Gunn quipped.

Her expression was panicked for a moment as her gaze darted around the room, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings, but as soon as she saw Angel she relaxed.

"My handsome prince." The smile she gave the vampire was adoring and Cordelia privately thought that if Angel had been capable of blushing, his whole face would have been bright red.

"Come on, munchkin." She held out a hand to the small girl. "I think it's time to get dressed."

The little girl seemed slightly reluctant as she took Cordelia's hand. She glanced back at Angel.

"Will you be here when I get back?"

"I will." His tone was gentle.

"Of course he will." The Seer said briskly, leading the little girl up the stairs.

"I think someone's got himself an admirer." Gunn ribbed once the two ladies were out of earshot. "If Fred was a few years older, I'd say she had a crush."

"Where's Wesley?"

Gunn knew an abrupt subject change when he heard one, but taking pity on the embarrassed vampire, he didn't comment on it. "I think English spent most of last night at the police station – a friend of his is a cop – seeing what information they have about Fred and trying to come up with a reasonable public explanation as to how exactly we came across a little kid who's been missing for two years. The old kidnapped into an alternate dimension story probably isn't going to cut it."

"True." Angel assented. "What about her parents?"

"Way ahead of you." Gunn gloated. "Wes is on it. The police should have their last known address on Fred's case file and he can trace them from there. You know," His expression sobered. "If her parents don't believe what they hear, about Pylea and everything, poor Fred'll have a tough time. Even if they do believe it . . .well, it's not exactly something they can have her talk to a counselor about, is it?"

"Not really." Angel assented worriedly.

"I guess there's not much we can do about that at the moment." Gunn said sadly. He made a determined effort to cheer up. "Let's start small – how about breakfast? What have you got by way of food here?"

"Pigs blood."

"And?"

"Pigs blood."

"I guess a shopping trip is in order, then. What do little kids like to eat?"

"I'm probably not the best person to ask." Angel wracked his brains, trying to remember what Fred had asked about as they were preparing for their journey home. "Do you know a place that sells tacos?"

* * *

_**Later that evening.**_

Angel didn't know why Cordelia had bothered bringing him, or, for that matter, Fred along on their shopping expedition. She was, as she always was where shopping was concerned, in her element, and didn't seem to need or want their input.

Fred, who had had to be coaxed into leaving the hotel and who had refused to do so without him, clung to his hand, shy and silent, never daring to venture an opinion and the few suggestions he had made had not met with Cordelia's approval.

"What about this one?" Angel held out a dress he had thought pretty.

"No."

"Why not?" Though he would not have admitted it, he was slightly offended by her abrupt dismissal of his choice.

Cordelia glared at him. "Two reasons. One – it's not the 1930s. Two – she's not Shirley Temple. What do you think of this one, sweetie?" She showed Fred a denim dress with a heart embroidered on the pocket.

"It's nice." Fred's voice was muffled by Angel's duster, where she had buried her face.

"Hey," Concerned, the vampire scooped her up in his arms. "Is everything okay?"

The little girl clung to him, her eyes wide with terror, her gaze flickering through the mall, as though she expected to see a green demon emerge from the sea of people milling through the store to drag her back through a portal.

A torrent of words flew from her lips as she babbled almost incoherently in a language Angel didn't recognize.

He was willing to bet that it was Pylean.

"What's the matter?" Cordelia dropped the dress and approached, worried.

"I wanna go back to the hotel." Fred whispered urgently in English, clinging to Angel's neck tightly enough to choke a human. Her face was pale. "Please."

"It's okay." Angel soothed. "We're going. Can you finish up here?"

"Sure thing." Cordelia knew the beginnings of a full-fledged panic attack when she saw one.

Angel handed her his wallet before making his way to the exit, a trembling little girl in his arms and she, after paying for the items they had chosen, followed them out to the car.

* * *

"It was too soon." The young woman paced through the lobby, berating herself. "she didn't want to come in the first place. I should have known better than to push . . .you should have seen her!"

"Relax." Gunn tried to pacify his friend. "It's over. She's fine."

"That kid is anything but fine." Cordelia scowled at imaginary Pyleans. "If I ever get my hands on the people that hurt her . . ." She trailed off, not able to think of an appropriate threat.

"I'll help." Gunn offered grimly.

"So will I." Angel, overhearing them, said as he made his way down the stairs into the lobby. "Fred's asleep." He said quietly, concern still evident in his voice. "I think it'll be a while before she's ready to venture out again, though. Is Wes back yet."

"Not. . ." The door opened and the gentleman in question entered before Gunn could finish his sentence. "Yet." He finished dryly.

The former Watcher's expression was sober, letting his friends know that he was not going to be the bearer of good news.

"One bad thing seems to follow another, doesn't it?" Wesley said sadly, to nobody in particular.

"What's wrong?" Even as he asked it, Angel had a sinking suspicion what it was.

"Fred. Her parents . . ." Wesley sighed. "They're dead."

TBC.

_Author's Note: I know its very cruel of me to kill off the Burkles, and I don't have anything against the characters, but no parent in their right mind is going to leave a six year old child in L.A. with a team of demon fighters._


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.  
**  
Requirements:  
**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping 

**Author's Note I: **Okay, I assume that nobody wants a blow by blow recap of Season Three with a little Fred so, apart from a chapter dealing with the episodes centering on Connor's birth, I won't be rewriting, unless there's something people particularly want to see.

**Author's Note II: **To Pylea Princess – I have no idea what, if any, pairings I'll be using at this point.

**Author's Note III: **To Imzadi – I'm afraid I don't know how I can fit Lindsey into this one.

**Author's Note IV: **Just a quick question re. school – at seven years old would a kid be in the second grade? I'm not entirely sure.

* * *

**Chapter 3 **

"Do you think that Mommy and Daddy thought that I was dead?"

"I don't know." Angel longed to take the little girl into his arms and comfort her. It wasn't fair for one child to be burdened so much, to have to endure so many tragedies.

Her brown eyes were brimming with tears. "Would it have hurt?" She asked, her voice shaking. "When they . . .?" She couldn't finish.

"No." He was quick to reassure her, not even caring if he had to embroider the truth a little. "It was very quick. It was over before either of them could feel a thing."

"Daddy used to say that he didn't know how some of the drivers in Los Angeles got their licenses." Fred sounded oddly detached, like a doctor reporting on patient, or a scientist explaining the results of a clinical trial. "He said that the roads were killers. I guess he was right."

"I'm sorry." Angel hated himself for not being able to offer her more comfort, for not knowing how he should help her.

"I hope that Mommy and Daddy knew that I was lost, not dead." The six year old mused aloud. "If they didn't, they would have been very sad when they got to Heaven and I wasn't there." She was speaking very quickly, the words tumbling out of her mouth as fast as she could give them voice. "I guess even if they didn't know then, they know now. Angel?" Her voice became very quiet, hesitant. "Do you think that they're mad at me?"

"Of course not!" Angel scooped her into his lap. "Why would they be mad at you?"

Tears flowed freely down her pale cheeks. "I'm forgetting them!" Her whole body was trembling. "It started in Pylea. I can remember some things, things they said, but when I try to remember what they looked like I can't, not really. It's all fuzzy. I'm scared that I'm going to forget all about them." She choked out, burying her face in his shirt and sobbing.

Not knowing what to say to comfort her, he rocked her back and forth in his arms, trying to soothe her cries.

"Angel?" She looked up at him, her face wet with tears. "What's going to happen to me now?"

"I'm not sure."

Wesley had been able to ascertain that the little girl's grandparents were dead, and that she had no aunts or uncles to take charge of her. Angel was at a loss as to what arrangements should be made for her.

The expression in her brown eyes was one of complete trust as she looked up at him. "I want to stay with you."

* * *

"Of course she's staying here." Cordelia's tone left no room for argument. "I'm sick of being the only female around this place."

"I wanna be the one who teaches her how to fight."

The former Watcher stared at Gunn, wondering if he had lost his mind. "She's six."

"Fine." He gave an exaggerated sigh. "I'll wait 'til she turns seven."

Angel waited for Wesley, officially the boss, to object, to point out that the environment in which they lived was no place for a young child.

"I think there are some good schools nearby." The Englishman offered. "You'll have to enroll her before September, and she may need some coaching to catch up with her age group."

"You don't think it'll be dangerous for her here?"

"Of course it will be dangerous." Wesley spoke seriously. "But there aren't many options. Allowing her to be placed with people who are not aware of her experiences over the past two years could be disastrous."

"Besides, if the Powers That Be want her here, who are we to argue?" Taking in the blank looks on the faces of her three colleagues, Cordelia sighed. "Do I have to spell it out for you? They send me a vision of a little girl who got sucked into another dimension two years ago so we go to the library, where a portal opens and sends that Landok guy out. When we send him back to Pylea, I get sucked in too, and while I'm there I meet. . ."

"Fred." Angel finished for her.

"Bingo. They could have sent a vision of any of the humans in Pylea, but they sent one of Fred. If the Powers That Be went to that much trouble to bring her here, then she's staying and, since nobody wants to be arrested for kidnapping a minor, we'll have to arrange something. David Nabbit's got about a dozen lawyers on his payroll, right?" She asked, referring to the billionaire former client who was always eager to play his part in the struggle against evil. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind us borrowing one to set up the adoption papers."

"You're going to adopt her?" Poor Angel felt slightly lost.

"Nope, you are."

"You're the one she's grown most attached to, the one she trusts." Wesley backed Cordelia up.

"You're her hero." Gunn sounded slightly envious. "You're the one she wants to stay with."

"But I'm a vampire." Angel pointed out. "I don't exist on paper. I don't even have a last name."

"Getting the paperwork is actually not that difficult." Gunn said knowledgably. "I know a couple of guys."

"So unless you don't want to take her . . ."

"No." Angel cut Wesley off decisively. He couldn't abandon Fred. He knew that. "She's staying with me."

* * *

_**Three days later.**_

As Cordelia had predicted, David Nabbit had been delighted to lend one of his lawyers make the arrangements for Angel to be named Fred's guardian and the legal paperwork had been pushed through very quickly. 

Angel suspected that a well placed bribe or two may have smoothed the path, but he couldn't confirm his suspicions and he knew better than to ask.

"And that's the last of them." The lawyer, a stocky, bespectacled gentleman who looked to be in his forties handed Angel the last of the documents for his signature.

"That's it?"

"Are you kidding me?" Cordelia chimed in before the lawyer could answer. "That was the _easy_ part. You're looking at more than a decade of PTA meetings, tantrums, homework, puberty – and just wait until she starts dating!" She glared at the unfortunate vampire. "And if you even _think_ about infecting my innocent future fashion protégée with basic black, I'm going to . . ." Her whispered threat would have made Angel slightly paler than usual had he thought for one moment that she was serious. She smiled sweetly. "Have fun."

Angel wasn't sure whether he should be happy or terrified.

_/What have I got myself into? /_

TBC.

_Author's Note: Please review and let me know if there's anything in particular that you would like to see. The next chapter will probably have a time jump of at least a couple of months._


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.

**Requirements: **

Little Fred loving tacos.

Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections

Little Fred having nightmares

Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note I:** To ka-mia2286 - A rewrite of 'Billy' is a possibility, and it would be interesting to see little Fred outsmart Wesley and Gunn - I don't think that their self-esteems would ever recover - but I don't know if she'd be able to feel comfortable around them again, not for a long time, and I don't want to rely on episodes. That'd get boring.

**Author's Note II:** To Imzadi - Lindsey as Fred's uncle is an intriguing idea, but I want her to stay with Angel as her father-figure, and if he was her uncle, I don't think that Lindsey would want to leave her at the hotel, especially as he's less than fond of Angel.

**Author's Note III:** To Allen Pitt – I toyed with the idea at one point, but in the end I decided against sending Fred to Quortoth with Connor and Holtz. I couldn't take them both from Angel.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

_**Three months later. **_

_**Hyperion Hotel, Monday morning. **_

"Is she ready yet?" Angel's tone was anxious as he questioned the former cheerleader.

"Nearly. She's getting her things together. I did her hair and nails, and she's finished getting dressed - it took me forever to pick out the right outfit."

"It's second grade." Gunn pointed out. "Not the Oscars."

"First impressions are very important. If you show up looking like a dork on your first day, it brands you through to the end of high school. Trust me." She finished softly, remembering some of the less than flattering comments she had made to her former classmates.

How many of them had she hurt with her words?

"The other kids aren't going to pick on her, are they?" Angel asked worriedly. "Kids can be cruel."

"I'm sure they won't." Wesley's words might have been confident, but his tone was far from it.

"Maybe we should reconsider home schooling." Angel suggested.

"Stop that!" Cordelia pointed a finger at him. "It's taken us _months_ to convince Fred that school is nothing to be afraid of. Don't you dare make her more nervous than she is already. Besides," She continued more gently. "You can't be a mother hen for the rest of her life."

"Not a mother hen!" Angel objected. He glanced at the stairs, checking to make sure that Fred wasn't within earshot. "I wish I could go with her." He said quietly. "Just to make sure everything's alright."

"Unless you want to be crispy-fried, that's not an option. Don't worry so much." Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she turned to Wesley, an accusing look on her face. "You taught her American spellings, right? The last thing that child needs is to be behind the others."

Wesley smiled slightly. "Cordelia, I can assure you that the last thing we need to worry about is Fred not being able to keep up with the other children."

"Angel?" Fred's spoke up softly from the bottom of the staircase. "I'm ready."

Cordelia had chosen her clothes, a knee length dark blue denim skirt with pink flowers embroidered at the hem and pockets and a sleeveless white top. Her long hair was secured with ribboned barrettes.

"You look great." Angel bent down and hugged her gently. He kissed the top of her head. "Good luck."

"Come on, munchkin." Cordelia made a determined effort to sound cheerful. "We have to get going."

If they stayed much longer, someone was going to start crying and she wasn't sure that it would be Fred.

* * *

_**Two hours later.**_

"Ms Harvey?"

"What is it, Winifred?" The teacher smiled at her quiet new pupil.

"I'm finished."

"Already?" Crouching down next to the little girl's desk, Ms Harvey took the worksheet from her, scanning the answers. "All correct, well done. This is excellent." Fred blushed slightly at her praise. "Where's your rough work?" A blank look was the only response she recieved. "Where did you work the sums out?"

Fred shrugged. "I just did."

"In your head?" Fred nodded. "I see." She studied the little girl for a moment. "Winifred, would you like to try some more problems?"

The little girl nodded eagerly. "Yes please."

The boy sitting nearest her waited until Ms Harvey was safely out of earshot before pulling a face. "You're weird."

* * *

_**Afternoon. **_

"Do you have something against the floor?"

"Huh?"

Gunn smirked, amused by Angel's nervousness. "You've been pacing long enough to wear a hole through it. Calm down, you're making me dizzy."

"The school didn't call. Do you think that means something's wrong?"

"I think they only call if there's a problem."

"What if she gets out of school early and nobody's there to pick her up? She'll get scared, you know she will."

"School doesn't end for another" He checked his watch. "Fifteen minutes. You made Cordelia leave half an hour ago and it takes ten minutes to get there. I think she'll make it. And Wesley's going to remember to pick up tacos for dinner." He added, before Angel could ask. "Are you going to be like this every day? 'Cause vamp or no vamp, you'll give yourself a stroke."

"Sorry." Angel apologised sheepishly. "It's just. . . I don't want this to upset her. She's been doing so well lately, she hasn't had as many nightmares, she's coming out of her room. I don't want this to cause a setback."

"I know." Gunn looked sympathetic. "But we're talking about a kid who spent about a third of her life in a hell dimension. I'm pretty sure she'll be able to handle elementary school. Besides," He grinned at his friend. "If anyone bothers her, we can kick their asses."

"Works for me."

* * *

_**An hour later.**_

"So how was school?" Angel held out a tiny pink china cup, holding it steady as Fred carefully filled it with the apple juice that she used as tea.

"Okay, I guess." She shrugged non-commitally. "Sugar?"

"No thanks." Angel sipped at his 'tea'. With his limited vampiric tastebuds he had trouble distinguishing different foods and drinks, but he never liked things to be too sweet.

Fred hadn't said much when she and Cordelia had returned to the hotel and, even after he had joined her for a tea party complete with apple juice and tacos, getting her to talk had been only slightly less difficult than pulling teeth would have been.

"What's your teacher like?"

Her face lit up with a genuine smile. "She's really nice. She let me do older kids' sums when I finished my work."

"That's nice." He studied her expression, concerned. "Did you make any friends?" He pressed gently. She didn't answer. "Well, it's just your first day." He tried to sound encouraging. "These things take time."

"I guess."

Seeing her downcast expression, it took every modicum of self-control Angel possessed not to tell her that she never had to go back if she didn't want to, that she could do her schoolwork at home, but he knew that Cordelia would have killedhim if he had.

"Would you like another taco?" She held out the plate on which they were arranged.

"Please."

"Angel!" He almost dropped it as Cordelia ran into the room, calling his name.

"What. . .?"

"Willow's on the phone." Cordelia announced joyously, the bearer of good news. "She's alive! Buffy's alive!"

"Buffy's. . ." Angel couldn't believe it. He thrust the taco back in Fred's small hand. "I'll be back in a minute." He all but tore out of the room.

The six year old looked up at Cordelia, bewildered by this behaviour. "Who's Buffy?"

TBC.

_Author's Note: To 'Billy', or not to 'Billy', that is the question. . .A quick survey - who wants to read an AU of 'Billy' with a child Fred? I can't decide whether or not I should include that chapter. Any opinions?_


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.

**Requirements:**

Little Fred loving tacos.

Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections

Little Fred having nightmares

Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note I: **Opinion seems to be pretty evenly divided over whether or not 'Billy' should be rewritten, with the Nos winning by a hair, so no 'Billy'. It would probably be too traumatizing for poor little Fred.

**Author's Note II: **To gidgetgirl – I love the idea of Darla and Fred bonding.

**Author's Note III: **To Pylea Princess – No plans for slash.

**Author's Note IV: **To Marcus Lazarus – The key to the answer of your question is in the prologue.

**Author's Note V: **There is a time jump of about two months between this chapter and the last.

* * *

**Chapter 5 **

"You're doing your sums wrong."

Wesley raised an eyebrow at the little girl. "Am I?"

"Yes." Fred, more confident since being placed in her school's gifted program - an event that had caused Angel to almost burst with pride - moved closer, gesturing towards the computer screen. "You said that four Roman years made fourteen hundred and sixty four days and that all the other calendars had their own numbers, right?"

"Right." The former Watcher lifted her onto his knee so that she could reach the keyboard.

"So you count how many days it's been since that date," She pointed at the pad on which he had worked out the approximate date that the Nyazian prophecy scroll he and Gunn had 'liberated' earlier on had been written. "And then you divide that by three hundred and sixty five. See?"

"Yes, I see."

"Did she just show you up academically?" Cordelia, entering in time to hear the end of Fred's math lesson, asked, amused.

"She ain't even seven yet." Gunn grinned widely.

"My little genius." Angel smiled proudly.

"My, isn't this a lovely little family gathering?" A familiar and far from welcome voice queried. A very pregnant Darla stood at the entrance of the lobby, her hands resting on her mound of a stomach, her gaze fixed on Angel. "Hello, Daddy."

* * *

"Where's the baby?"

"What baby?"

"The baby they're talking about. I don't see it."

"It's in her stomach." Gunn answered without thinking.

"How did it get in there?" Fred's brow was furrowed in confusion. "Did she eat it?"

Gunn, once he realized what he was being asked, looked horror struck. "You mean nobody ever sat you down and had this conversation with you in Pylea? Damn. Well, uh. . .you see. . .Hey, English!" He called to Wesley, who was hunting for one of his books. "You're the brains of the operation. You explain it."

"Explain what?"

Gunn nodded meaningfully towards Darla. "Birds and the bees talk." He gave Fred a gentle push in Wesley's direction and made his escape into the lobby.

Wesley felt his cheeks grow warm as Fred looked up at him, waiting for him to explain.

"Well, the thing is. . . it really isn't my place to. . . Angel!"

Needless to say, Angel was glad to leave Darla's side, and to escape Cordelia's black looks – at least until he found out why he had been summoned.

"Okay, I can do this." He combed his brain through more than two centuries worth of memories and discarding most of his knowledge as unfit for little ears. "When a man and a woman. . .Right, you see there are eggs, like seeds and when a girl's around thirteen. . .this is probably something that a woman would be better at explaining to you. Cordy?"

"What?" The Seer glowered at him, still ticked off.

"I need you to have a talk with Fred. You know, the B-A-B-Y talk."

"I can spell 'baby'." Fred piped up.

"You're asking me to. . ." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Men are such wimps!"

"Please." Angel wasn't above begging if it got him out of this task.

"I can explain it to her if you like."

For some reason, nobody wanted to take Darla up on her generous offer.

"Come on, honey." Sighing wearily, Cordelia took Fred's hand and led her towards the stairs. "Let's go up to your room and have a little chat."

"Just remember that you're not allowed to do any of the things she tells you about until you're forty." Angel couldn't resist adding the warning.

* * *

"What are you reading, love?"

The little girl looked up from the anatomy book that Cordelia, worn out by her constant questions, had unearthed for her. "It's about how babies are made. Did you know that there are millions and billions of sperm in a man and that they have to race to get to the egg and make the baby?"

"Really?" Wesley hoped that he wasn't blushing.

"And everything about the baby is decided when the sperm and the egg meet, even what colour it's hair will be."

"How interesting." The former Watcher responded faintly, inwardly cursing Cordelia's name.

Like all of their group, he was very proud of the fact that Fred was highly intelligent, a genius according to the tests her school had done, but there were times when it did not seem like much of an advantage.

"Wesley? How does the man get his penis to stand up? Cordelia didn't say."

Like now.

* * *

_**Two hours later.**_

Angel had brought Darla back to the hotel and she was staying in one of the hotel's many rooms.

Fred had caught a glimpse of her as Angel led her to her room and the blonde vampire did not look well.

Adept at the art of moving quietly, the six year old slipped out of the office and into the garden to gather a bunch of jasmine before making her way upstairs to Darla's bedroom, hoping to cheer her up.

She knocked on the door and, hearing a grunt that might have passed for an invitation, entered.

"Hi." She smiled shyly at Darla, who was lying on her bed, clearly exhausted and looking less than happy about her situation. "I came to see how you were."

The vampire looked up at her, a thin smile appearing on her face at the sight of the little girl.

_/Oh goody. Meals On Wheels. /_

* * *

"You're not to go near Darla for any reason without me, Gunn and a lot of crossbows standing between you, you got that?"

"Got it." Cordelia gingerly touched the bandage on her neck, a less than welcome souvenir from Darla. "And if I forget, I have this nifty little reminder."

Angel glanced across at the weapons cabinet, where Gunn was loading up a crossbow in preparation for his duties as prison warden. "Don't underestimate her." He warned. "She's stronger than all of us, right now. And I don't want Fred going near her under any circumstances. Did you hear that, Fred?" He raised his voice slightly. There was no response. "Fred?"

"Fred?" Cordelia called out the little girl's name, worried.

"She was in here a minute ago." Wesley spoke up.

"Well she's not here now." Gunn pointed out dryly.

"So where. . ." Angel turned paler than usual. "Darla."

TBC.


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.  
**  
Requirements:  
**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note I: **To Marcus Lazarus - Nobody wanted to send little Fred anywhere.

**Author's Note II: **I'm playing with the show's timeline a bit to include more Darla, so there was at least a few days between the episodes 'Offspring' and 'Quickening'.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"I heard the others say that you were feeling sick." Fred gave the blonde vampire a sweet smile. "So I brought you these." She held out the little bouquet she had arranged.

Darla returned the little girl's smile with a less than pleasant smirk. "I've had this little parasite stuck inside me for months, growing and kicking, draining me – yes, I'm sure that these will make it all better." She accepted the flowers gracelessly. "Jasmine. Night-blooming. How appropriate."

"Would you like me to get you something else?" Fred asked innocently. "Are you hungry?"

"Now that you mention it. . ." Darla gave her a thin smile. "Could you come a bit closer and we can. . .Argh!" She doubled over in pain.

"Are you okay?" Fred ran to the vampire's side, placing her little arms around her, trying to steady her. "Will I get Angel?"

"I'm sure he'll want to help." She snorted gracelessly. "When he's the one that did this to me."

"Is the baby kicking you?"

Despite herself, Darla found herself grateful for the sympathy, even if it was coming from a child. "Yeah. Active little fu. . .fellow." She amended. She regarded the little girl curiously. "Who are you anyway? You weren't here last time."

"I'm Fred – really it's Winifred, but nobody ever calls me that, not even my teacher any more. I'll be seven next month."

"Fascinating." Darla's sarcastic tone was lost on her young guest. "So where'd Angel find you?"

"Pylea." Fred made a face. "It was horrible there."

"What's Pylea?"

"FRED!"

Any response the little girl might have made was lost as Angel, with his usual dramatic flair, burst into the room.

"Don't bother knocking, will you?" Darla drawled sarcastically.

"Are you alright?" Angel caught the little girl in his arms, checking her anxiously for signs of injury.

"I'm fine."

"Why wouldn't she be?" The pregnant vampire was finding her former paramour's discomfort highly amusing.

"It's getting late." Not wanting to frighten Fred, Angel kept his tone as light as he could. "I think it's past your bedtime." He hinted meaningfully.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Can I visit again tomorrow?"

"Of course." Darla smiled graciously as she agreed to the little girl's request, taking a malicious delight in Angel's poorly concealed anger.

Both vampires stiffened in astonishment as the little girl pulled away from Angel and put her arms around Darla's neck, giving her a quick hug. "Goodnight."

"Go get ready for bed." Angel gently ushered Fred out of the room. "I'll be in in a little while to tuck you in." He waited until she had left before turning to the blonde vampire, a scowl on his face.

Darla looked up at him with her most innocent expression. "What?"

* * *

Angel knocked softly on the door. "Can I come in?"

"I invite you in."

He couldn't keep a smile from his face. He had explained to Fred that, once she invited him in once, she didn't have to keep doing it, but she seemed to like inviting him each time.

To be honest, he liked it too.

"Did you brush your teeth?"

"Of course." Fred smiled up at him before climbing into her bed, wriggling a bit until she was comfortable before lying still to allow him to tuck her duvet around her.

Rescuing her teddy from his ignoble position under the bed, he handed it to her. "Do you want me to read you a story?"

"No thank you." Fred yawned, unable to stop herself. "I'm tired."

"Fred. . ." Angel paused, unsure how he should begin. He sighed, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes. "I've been meaning to talk to you, about Darla."

"Cordelia told me how the baby got into her tummy." Fred interrupted. "It's because you and Darla. . ."

"Not that." He cut her off quickly. "You know that Darla's a vampire, right?"

"Like you?"

"Not _exactly_ like me. The thing is, Darla's very dangerous and I don't think you should visit her."

"Why?"

Angel combed his mind, discarding most of his excuses as likely to give her nightmares. "I just don't think it's a good idea." His expression was serious as he looked down at her. "I want you to promise me that you won't go to visit her again."

"No."

"No?" You could have knocked Angel over with a feather when he heard this calm refusal. "Why not?"

"Because it's bad to break a promise."

"Yes, it is. That's why I want you to promise not to go near Darla and to _keep_ your promise."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because she's sick and she's lonely and she needs somebody to visit her and take care of her."

"No she doesn't."

"Yes she does."

"No she. . ." Angel stopped, not wanting to get into a cartoonish argument. "She could hurt you and I don't want that to happen."

"She's not going to hurt me." Fred told him calmly, completely sure of herself.

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do, the same way I knew that you wouldn't hurt me." She told him, referring to their time in Pylea and her encounter with the Angel-Beast.

Angel sighed. "Please, Fred, I just want you to promise me that you'll stay away from Darla."

"I'm sorry." She bit her lower lip. "I don't want you to be mad at me but I can't leave poor Darla all by herself when she's sick." She set her chin. "I won't."

* * *

****

**_The next evening._**

"She's driving me crazy!" Gunn exclaimed, taking a welcome break from his prison warden duties to grab a cup of coffee while Wesley took over the unwelcome task of Darla-sitting. "Every time I blink she's trying to sneak past me - that kid's as good at the stealth thing as you are."

"Most little girls want to nurse a bird with a broken wing." Cordelia grumbled. "Fred wants to mother a four hundred plus year old vampire. I think it's almost a game at this point, trying to get the better of us. So what are you going to do about it?"

Angel, to whom this question was addressed, looked rather lost. "I don't know."

"You have to do something." The Seer pressed. "If she keeps this up, Darla is going to turn her into an appetizer."

"She won't." Angel corrected her. "I think she's enjoying how much this is driving us all crazy."

Before either of the other two had a chance to come up with any suggestions, a disgruntled Wesley marched into the room, holding an unrepentant Fred by the hand.

"Could one of you please try to talk some sense into her?" He appealed to the group. "This isn't funny."

"I thought I told you not to go near Darla." Angel did his best to sound stern - no easy task when faced with the little girl's innocent puppy-dog eyes.

"And I told you I was going to visit her." Fred crossed her arms over her chest, looking up at him defiantly, not willing to budge an inch. "So there."

* * *

"You have to punish her." Cordelia told Angel, as soon as she had hauled him into Wesley's office.

"I can't do that."

"Angel," Cordelia laid a gentle hand on his arm. "You can't let her get away with ignoring what we tell her or one of these days she's going to get herself hurt, or worse. You've tried to reason with her but she just won't listen."

"She's never done this before." Poor Angel looked crestfallen.

Cordelia nodded her assent. "I didn't think Fred was physically capable of saying 'no' to her big fat hero."

"You think I'm fat?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's not the issue here."

"She's been through so much already." Angel's voice was soft. "More than any kid should ever have to go through."

"You can't use what happened to her in Pylea as an excuse to let her get away with murder." Cordelia told him firmly. "You have to set some boundaries and stick to them, for Fred's sake if nothing else."

"I guess." Angel sounded far from sure of himself. He gave her a hopeful smile. "Do you think you could. . .?"

"Oh no you don't. You are not making me the bad cop." Cordelia scolded. "You're her guardian, it has to come from you."

"But. . ."

"No arguments." She glared at him, making him feel ten years old. "Now go on."

* * *

****

**_Ten minutes later._**

"Do you think I was too hard on her?"

"Angel," Cordelia looked at him as though he were insane, an idiot or both. "You sent her to bed early - less than half an hour early. I'm fairly certain that doesn't qualify as child abuse."

"I guess." Angel looked doubtful. "Do you think I should go up and see if she's. . ."

"No!"

* * *

****

**_Midnight._**

Fred, half-asleep, had only been vaguely aware of Angel coming in to check on her a couple of hours ago.

Her room was almost completely dark, lit only by the dim glow of the small nightlight by her bed when she woke up, crying out softly, terrified that her dream had come true and that she was back in Pylea, pursued by demons who were very angry with her for running away, demons who would hurt her if they caught her.

Clutching her teddy bear to her chest, she slipped out of her room and knocked on Angel's door but he wasn't there.

Gunn wasn't standing outside Darla's door any more so she guessed that he must have gone home.

She could hear faint noises downstairs as Wesley worked on his research and, for a moment she debated over whether she should join him downstairs before the sounds of movement in a suite down the hall told her that she was not the only resident of the hotel who had trouble sleeping.

Darla looked up in surprise when the little girl appeared at her door, her brown eyes wet with tears.

"What's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream." Fred snuffled miserably. "Angel's not here. Can I stay with you?"

"Can you. . .what?" Although the little girl's efforts to visit and cheer her up had amused her, the reaction of the adults even more so, this was the last thing that Darla had ever expected.

"Please?" She looked like she was going to cry. "I'm scared."

"Fine." Darla had no idea why she had agreed, or why she was allowing the little girl to climb into the bed next to her.

Fred snuggled up next to her, her breathing becoming slow and even as she drifted off to sleep.

Darla lay back, lulled somewhat by the rhythm of the child's breathing, half-enjoying the feel of the warmbody curled up next to her, the gentle thump of her own baby's kicking.

She rolled her eyes.

_/Damn hormones/_

TBC.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.

**Requirements:**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note: **I'm not going to bore you all to tears with a blow by blow account of the events of 'Quickening' and 'Lullaby'. The visit to the hospital, the arrival of the vampire cult, the scene between Angel and Darla on the rooftop and just about anything from the episode you don't see in this chapter happened pretty much as it did on the show.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 7**

_**Two days later.**_

He had been sitting there for hours, motionless save for his breathing, watching as two hundred years worth of history played out on the four screens in front of him.

"I know it seems like only a moment to you." The seated man didn't bother to turn around as the demon behind him addressed him. "But two hundred and twenty seven years have passed since our agreement. Empires have risen and fallen. Mankind has harnessed the power of the sun, walked on the moon, and turned arid desserts into fields of green."

"What of England?" He wished that he could ask about his family, that he still had a family to ask about. "Has it survived the years and destruction?"

He barely paid attention as the being responsible for bringing him back gave him a broad overview of some of what he considered the key developments in England's history.

He scowled angrily.

How was it that in more than two centuries of what looked like constant war and chaos, Darla and Angelus still lived?

Even Sahjahn's explanations about fate and destiny failed to pacify him.

"Let's finish this." His tone was grim. "I want Angelus." _/I want revenge. /_

* * *

_**Hyperion Hotel.**_

When Fred's school had closed for a week for the mid-term vacation, Angel and the others had been worried - understandably so - that as the little girl now had more free time on her hands, her efforts to visit Darla would be redoubled.

Angel had barely gotten over the shock he had had when, two nights previously, he had come back to the hotel, seen that Fred wasn't in her bed and, after a frantic search, had found her curled up next to Darla, fast-asleep.

Much to his relief, after asking Gunn to let her in to see Darla and being refused, the little girl had seemingly given up on her attempts and settled down in Wesley's office with a book that absorbed her full attention, something he was grateful for.

Between them Wesley and Cordelia were researching, through books and over the Internet respectively, trying to find out everything they could about the prophecy on the Nyazian scrolls and Angel's soon to be born child.

Thus far, their progress had not been remarkable.

Even knowing that the child Darla carried had a heartbeat and a soul wasn't much of a comfort.

The last thing any of them needed or wanted was to have to deal with Fred's attempts to sneak into Darla.

Angel glanced into Wesley's office, where Fred was busy poring over a musty leather tome that must have weighed at least half as much as she did, smiling at the expression of intense concentration on her small face.

_/At least she's behaving. /_

* * *

_**Ten minutes later.**_

"Any progress?"

Wesley looked up at his anxious friend, a sour look on his face. "It might go a little more quickly if you didn't think it necessary to interrupt every few minutes." He pointed out a little stiffly.

"Sorry." Angel stood still a moment, trying to think of something, anything, he could do to speed the process along.

Cordelia was already busy on the computer, Gunn was standing guard outside Darla's suite.

Angel wasn't exactly a candidate for Researcher of the Year and he suspected that the former Watcher would rather do without his assistance.

_/**Fred** would be better than me. /_ He thought self-derisively.

Abruptly becoming aware of the silence in the room, he looked across at the chair in the corner where Fred should have been.

"Not again!"

* * *

Fred staggered slightly as she rematerialized, a little dizzy and disoriented.

Darla raised a surprised eyebrow, half-amused by the child's determination, half-admiring her for it, unwilling to admit that she welcomed her company.

"Hi." Fred smiled brightly, not waiting for an invitation before sitting on Darla's bed. "I thought you might be lonely so I wanted to surprise you."

"You succeeded." Her tone was dry. "How exactly did you. . .?"

For answer, Fred held out her book. "It's a teleportation spell."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that could have been?" Darla bit her tongue, scarcely believing what she had just said.

If she wasn't careful, she was going to turn into a _mother_.

"I'm sorry." Fred's lower lip trembled. "I just wanted to come and see you."

"Don't cry." Darla knew that she had no chance whatsoever of coping if she did.

"You're not mad?"

"I'm not mad." Darla hastened to reassure her. "I promise."

Fred beamed at her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'd be fine if _someone_" She glared at her bump. "Would stay still for more than a minute."

"Is the baby moving again?" Fred looked entranced.

"Yeah. Want to feel?" Darla asked impulsively, taking the girl's small hand and pressing it to her mound of a stomach.

"Wow." Fred looked awed as the baby kicked. "It's really strong."

"Tell me about it." Darla groused. She looked up at the little girl with a sideways grin. "I take it Angel doesn't know you're up here."

"No." Fred scowled mutinously. "The others don't want me to visit. It's not fair that they want you to be all alone." She hugged the blonde vampire spontaneously. "They don't know how nice you are."

"I'm not nice."

"Yes you are." Her tone left no room for argument. "Are you warm enough? Do you want another blanket? Or a drink? Do you want me to read you a story?"

"Winifred Burkle!" Closely followed by the three guys, Cordelia marched into the suite, a stern expression on her face. "What is going on here?"

"How did you get up here?" Gunn looked puzzled. "You didn't come past me."

"I used a teleportation spell." Fred told him sweetly. "From Wesley's book."

"Fred!" Angel was aghast.

"I won't be letting you borrow this again." Wesley told her, taking the book and glancing through it to find the spell she had used.

"That's okay." Fred said cheerfully, undaunted. "I already know the spell by heart."

"You were able to cast this spell by yourself?" The former Watcher looked impressed.

"Her first spell and she did it perfectly." Angel couldn't keep from smiling.

"I blame English." Gunn declared. "We never should have let him teach her Latin."

"You shouldn't have done that." Cordelia scolded, knowing that Angel was too impressed by his young charge's spell casting ability to be stern. "You are in a lot of trouble, young lady."

"AHHHHH!" Darla cried out, doubling over in pain.

"Her tummy's hurting." Fred looked almost as distressed as Darla did. "We have to make it stop."

"We can't." Wesley told her gently, moving her aside so that he could check Darla's stomach. "The baby's coming."

* * *

_**A few hours later.**_

_/I'm going to have a son. /_

Angel could scarcely believe it.

After nearly two and a half centuries as a vampire he had accepted that he would never have children and now he was going to be a father.

It was a boy, a human boy.

His son.

He had scarcely believed it when Wesley had read the sonogram and told him the news.

It wouldn't be long. Darla was full-term, ready to deliver at any minute.

He couldn't keep the skip from his step as he entered the hotel in search of the scroll on which the Nyazian prophecy was written.

The scene of carnage before him was sickening. Bodies and equipment were scattered everywhere. Judging from the uniforms, he guessed that the dead were Wolfram and Hart employees, but even they did not deserve such a gruesome death.

_/Who . . . or **what** could have done this/_

"Hello, Angelus."

_/Holtz. /_

* * *

"Where's Angel?" Fred asked, chewing her bottom lip nervously as she watched Darla scream in the throes of labor.

If having babies hurt so badly, then she was never going to have one.

"He should be back by now." Cordelia looked worried. "Something's gone wrong."

"We can't stay here." Wesley's tone was decisive. "It's too exposed." He met Cordelia and Gunn's eyes, knowing that they knew as well as he did that there was only one place where Darla could give birth safely.

One of these days, Lorne was going to start charging them rent.

* * *

It was like a scene from a nightmare.

Holtz paced slowly back and forth in front of him, musing aloud about Darla's whereabouts, whether killing Angel would bring her to him, seeking vengeance.

The demons that held Angel in place with metal restraints grunted and salivated.

"I remember you used to work with men." Although he knew that it could well prove suicidal, Angel couldn't resist pointing this out. "What happened? What brought you back? A demon?"

Holtz, incensed, backhanded him savagely across the face.

One of the demons approached, muttering something in a garbled dialect.

Holtz almost smiled. "You've got her, bring her in."

Lilah was less than amused when a stream of holy water was splashed in her face.

Her conversation with Holtz provided Angel with just enough of a distraction to get his hand - or, more accurately, his foot - on the grenade lying in front of him.

"Lilah, duck!"

The force of the explosion rocketed him across the lobby into the elevator.

* * *

_**Caritas.**_

Lorne had, understandably, been less than pleased at the prospect of Darla giving birth in his club but, to his credit, he was making every effort to get the sanctuary spell in place to ensure that they would not have any unexpected company for the delivery.

Gunn's cheek was starting to hurt.

"Okay, I'm convinced I got it this time."

Cordelia slapped Gunn across the face.

"Ow."

"Let me see that." As Lorne perused the leaflet, Angel, supporting a groaning Darla, hurried into Caritas, leading her to a chair and helping her to sit down.

"Are you alright?" Fred was close to tears at the sight of the vampire she had adopted as her friend in such pain.

"I'll be alright." Darla lied, managing a weak smile for the little girl's sake.

In truth she felt about as far from alright as it was possible to be.

* * *

_**An hour later.**_

"He finally stopped kicking." As early as the previous day, Darla would have considered that to be a cause for celebration, now it filled her with dread.

"Did he?" Angel tried to sound brave.

"He's dying, isn't he?"

"No." He wished that by saying it, he could make it so but they both knew that wasn't the case.

Darla couldn't deliver the baby naturally and the aura of protection surrounding him ruled out the possibility of a Caesarean section.

"You lied much better when you didn't have a soul." Darla observed. "I can feel the life slipping away from me." Unbidden, a tear trickled down her cheek.

* * *

Fred was pensive as she sat on a stool in front of the counter of the bar, resting her chin in her cupped hands.

Lorne had offered her a soft drink but she wasn't interested.

Despite the attempts of the adults to reassure her that everything would work out, the little girl wasn't fooled.

The baby was stuck in Darla and there was no way to get him out.

Even Wesley, whom she privately considered to be one of the smartest people in the world, had no ideas.

_/I wish I'd learned how to help Darla and the baby instead of learning to teleport myself. /_ She berated herself. She twisted a lock of hair around her finger as she pondered the mechanics of the teleportation spell she had recently mastered. _/I think about me, and where I want to be and I concentrate really hard while I say the words. Maybe. . . /_

Her science teacher had told her that to prove a theory, she should always test it.

Scarcely aware of the others as they spoke, she concentrated as hard as she could on one of the glasses stacked behind the bar, willing it to the counter as she whispered the words under her breath.

She couldn't keep from squeaking in excitement as it materialized in front of her.

Shaking off her residual dizziness, not heeding the looks of astonishment on the faces of the others she hopped down from the stool and ran intothe bedroom where Darla lay.

"Hi." Darla smiled across at her.

"I can help." She blurted out excitedly. "I know how to. . ."

"Run!" Lorne, closely followed by Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn, tore into the room. "We have to get out of here."

"We're being attacked." Wesley told him.

_/So much for the double sanctorium spell. /_

A burning beam crashed through the ceiling, narrowly missing himself and Darla.

"It's Holtz."

"What?" Darla looked horrified. "How's it possible?"

Behind them, Lorne and Gunn pulled out the bed, behind which Lorne said there was an escape route.

"He's here. I would have mentioned it before, but I didn't think it was the right time."

"No. No, it's the perfect time." Her guilt was etched on her features. "What we did to him. That's why this is happening. His family, his children... - what that must have been like for him. Doesn't seem so funny now, does it?"

Now their son would have to pay the price for what they had done so long ago.

Little Fred took her hand, squeezing it comfortingly as Angel made his way to Lorne and Gunn and set to work smashing his way through the thin wall to their escape route.

They barely made it out into the alley before Caritas all but collapsed around them, disintegrating into a burning mound of bricks, plaster and timber.

Darla, exhausted, couldn't go any further.

Tossing his keys to Wesley with curt instructions to get his car, Angel helped her lie down, carefully supporting her head and upper body.

He had never expected it to end like this.

Cordelia, Gunn and Lorne followed Wesley. Fred didn't move.

"Fred, go with them."

"No." She set her jaw stubbornly.

"Go. I don't want you to see this." Whatever he thought, he knew that the little girl had grown attached to Darla.

"I can help." Fred stomped her foot in an uncharacteristic display of temper. "You have to let me!"

"Let her." Darla's voice was weak. "She can't make it any worse."

Kneeling down next to Darla and pressing one hand to her stomach, Fred shut her eyes tightly, concentrating on the image of a baby, repeating the words of the spell as distinctly as she could, not wanting a mistake in pronunciation to mar her chances.

Darla gasped as the weight that had been present in her womb disapparated and the baby materialized next to her on the ground, wailing at the top of its lungs after being forced from its warm environment to a rainy alley.

Fred, though thrilled with her success, couldn't keep from feeling the tiniest twinge of disappointment.

"I was aiming for Angel's arms."

Carefully wrapping the squalling baby in his duster and helping Darla up with the other arm, Angel rose, turning at the sound of footsteps squelching through puddles to see Holtz, crossbow in hand, aiming at them.

He didn't shoot, he just stood, staring at the drenched quartet.

It felt like some cruel joke, a sick parody of his own family.

He remembered how they had all gathered together when Caroline had been safely delivered of little Danny, how Sarah had stared at her new baby brother with a mixture of awe, curiousity and affection.

Now that scene was being played out in front of him, with the demons who had stolen his family rejoicing in theirs.

Despite Sahjahn's encouragement, he couldn't bring himself to shoot, even as their friends pulled up in the car and they made their escape, leaving him standing in the rain.

"Do it! Now's your chance. Do it! Finish it while you still can! You can't just let him walk away! Not now! Not after what you swore to me!" Sahjahn berated him.

I swore that I would show no mercy." Holtz acknowledged calmly as he watched them drive away. "And I won't."

* * *

_**Hyperion Hotel.**_

"What should we call him?" Not wanting to wake the sleeping little girl whose head rested in her lap, Darla kept her voice low.

"What name do you like?"

She gave him a thin smile. "I can't remember my name. You choose."

Angel's face softened as he looked down at the baby nestled in his arms. "Connor."

"Connor." Darla tried out the name. "I like it." She held out her arms, waiting for Angel to lay their son in her arms. "He's the first good thing I ever did."

Angel bent down next to her, a sincere smile of encouragement on his face. "He doesn't have to be the last."

TBC.

_Author's Note: I'd like to thank gidgetgirl for her suggestions about Connor's birth. Darla owes her her unlife._

_I think this is the longest chapter I've posted so far. Reviews and suggestions are, as always, greatly appreciated._


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.

**Requirements:**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 8**

_**Three weeks later.**_

"I don't see why we can't have a party." Cordelia grumbled. "A costume party, so Lorne could come, and invite all the kids in her class. It's not like _Fred's _going to go into a coma and have to get dosed with demon DNA, is it?" She pointed out, referring to the events of her own birthday a fortnight previously. "Come on, Angel!" She glared at her unresponsive audience. "That poor kid spent her fifth and sixth birthdays in a hell dimension, if anyone deserves to have fuss made for her seventh, it's her."

"I don't know . . ." Angel had never been one for parties, and, if the expression on his face was any indication, the idea of having fifteen or twenty kids invading the hotel made another few hundred years in Hell seem like a pleasant alternative.

"You only turn seven once." Cordelia said persuasively. "Don't you want this to be a special day for her?"

"You know I do, but I don't know if a party is such a good idea. She doesn't like to have a lot of people around her."

"That's why she needs a party. When was the last time she brought a friend over? Or even talked about one? If she says a word about school, it's about her teacher, or a project, or a test."

"She's an intelligent child."

"She still needs friends." Cordelia pointed out reasonably. "Unless of course you want her to grow up into someone who spends her time alone, brooding."

"Very funny."

"Seriously, Angel, I've seen what happens to bright kids in school, especially when they're older. Elementary school is where the foundations are lain that will determine social status through to the end of high school." She told him with complete earnestness. Do you want her to be the kid that everyone picks on?"

"You know I don't."

"Fred's already at a disadvantage since her school put her in the gifted program. Most of the kids there are older than she is and she doesn't have any friends among the kids her own age. Those are the ones we have to invite to the party. A surprise party!" She cried, inspired. "It's perfect. Everyone loves those, and don't worry," She smiled reassuringly at him. "Lorne and I can arrange everything. Her birthday's on Saturday, but Friday's probably a better day, since we can send her off somewhere after school. You just relax, and let me take care of it."

It wasn't until after she had left; ready to put her plans into action, that Angel realized that he had never actually consented to her plan.

* * *

"Alright, little one." Darla's expression was tender as she laid her baby son into the crib set up for him in Angel's suite. "It's bedtime."

The room next to it had become hers, and the one on the other side was Fred's.

Connor, full and sleepy, made no protest as she drew his blanket over him, his eyes drifting shut almost immediately.

Although he had grown a great deal since his birth, he still seemed very small and very vulnerable to her.

She couldn't forget, even as she delighted in her son, the danger that faced him, although, after Angel's 'discussion' with Linwood Murrows, there had been no attempts made to kidnap or in any way harm the baby boy.

Her membership of Angel's team was a tentative one at best.

Fred accepted her unreservedly and had from the beginning, Angel seemed to be glad that she was here and Lorne, once she had sung for him, trusted her.

Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn, however, would be harder to win over.

Not even Lorne could explain why or how, even after Connor's birth, she had remained partially ensouled, but the green demon had been adamant that she was on their side and, although they had their doubts, Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn accepted his verdict, albeit grudgingly, always watching for any sign that she might revert to her evil ways.

In a way she was grateful for their suspicion, knowing that if she were ever to pose a risk to baby Connor, they would kill her to protect him.

She remembered her reaction to Angel telling her that he had a soul and found it odd that she didn't resent that she too was at least partially cursed, but if it weren't for the fragment of a soul she retained, she wouldn't have been able to love her son.

She couldn't consider that a curse.

Angels footfalls were soft as he entered the room after reading Fred her bedtime story and he made no sound as he stood next to Connor's cradle, listening, awed, to his son's soft breathing.

"Fred wants to say goodnight." Not wanting to wake the sleeping baby, Angel kept his voice low.

She couldn't keep from smiling.

She had grown very fond of the sweet, intelligent little girl who had cheerfully adopted her as a part of her family.

Fred never spoke much about her experiences in Pylea but the little Darla had heard had filled her with rage and she had been ready to rip anyone who had laid a finger on the child limb from limb.

She shuddered slightly as she looked down at the sleeping Connor.

She didn't think she would be able to cope if anything like that ever happened to him.

* * *

_**Four days later.**_

When Cordelia Chase undertook the planning of a party, she did not do anything by halves, even if that party was for seven and eight year olds.

Between them, she and Lorne had transformed the lobby of the hotel, decorating it with balloons, streamers and banners.

Lorne was in his element.

Since the destruction of Caritas, he had missed the excitement of his former lifestyle and had thrown himself heart and soul into the party, feeling a slight, smug satisfaction in the thought that none of the kids were likely to ever have seen a 'costume' like his.

Wanting to ensure a good turnout, Cordelia had invited the members of Fred's former second grade class in addition to the younger members of the gifted stream.

Angel and Gunn had been charged with the prestigious task of preparing refreshments and they had all been sternly sworn to secrecy by Cordelia, who threatened them with dire repercussions should they do anything to spoil the event.

Surveying the lobby with satisfaction, Cordelia checked her watch.

It was nearly four, half an hour before the guests were due to arrive and more than an hour before Wesley was due to return with Fred, whom he had whisked off to a movie after school.

She grinned.

"Fred's going to love this."

* * *

_**An hour later.**_

A motley crew of superheroes, fairies, monsters, pirates and even a miniature Dracula milled excitedly around the lobby, enjoying the games Lorne had orchestrated while they awaited the arrival of the guest of honour.

Angel found himself envying Connor who, tucked into his crib in the office, slept through the noise.

He didn't mind admitting that the sight of so many children unnerved him more than a little.

Fred and Connor were more than enough for him.

Several parents were also in attendance and Angel honestly didn't know which were worse: adults or children.

Darla seemed to share his sentiments.

She too avoided interacting with their guests, young or old, taking every opportunity to escape to check on Connor, or anything she could think of.

With their keen hearing, the two vampires heard Wesley's car pull up and, once they had alerted Cordelia, the former cheerleader ordered everyone to hide, supervising the operation with the efficiency of a drill sergeant.

Fred's animated voice could be heard as she crossed the garden with Wesley, eagerly discussing the film he had taken her to

As soon as she had crossed the threshold, they all jumped out.

The birthday girl instinctively took a step back, moving closer to Wesley.

Her face paled slightly and her brown eyes were wide.

Darla recognized her expression.

She had seen it a thousand times.

Fear.

* * *

"Having fun?" Gunn smiled down at the little girl at his side, not daring to ruffle her hair for fear of Cordelia's reaction if he knocked her tiara askew.

"Uh-huh." Fred sounded less than convincing. She glanced around, looking for something to distract him. "Jason's trying to open the weapons cabinet."

"Damn!" Gunn darted forward to intercept the young boy before he could cut off one of his own limbs.

The parents attending had already cast disapproving looks at the weapons and he didn't want to outrage them any further.

Lorne was leading a sing along and Cordelia and Wesley were organizing a game of pin the tail on the donkey.

She didn't know any of the children at the party very well and she was pretty certain that some of them barely knew her at all.

Everyone seemed to be having fun, though.

Everyone except her.

* * *

When Connor had started crying, Darla had seized the opportunity to take him and escape upstairs, murmuring excuses about having to put him to bed, inwardly resolving not to come downstairs a minute before she had to.

After putting Connor to bed, she heard movement in the room next door.

After knocking, she pushed open the door to find Fred sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Are they looking for me downstairs?" She sounded slightly fearful.

"I don't think so." Darla grinned conspiratorially. "I've escaped too."

Fred giggled. Cordelia had chosen her costume, a long white and silver princess dress with matching silver pumps and a tiara.

Darla thought she looked angelic.

"You know," The blonde vampire addressed the little girl in a mock-reproachful tone. "This is the first place anyone will look if they miss you downstairs."

"Should we hide?"

Darla thought for a moment, considering the question with the gravity it deserved.

"I don't think we need to go far." She said at last. "If we stay in Angel's room, he's got a sword under the bed. They won't take us without a fight."

* * *

_**Twenty minutes later.**_

Vampires didn't perspire, but if they did, Angel would have been sweating like a pig by now.

Now that the game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey was over, Cordelia was debating whether or not a game of Simon Says would be well received and, if the looks she was giving him were any indication, he had a pretty good idea of who would be pressed into the role of Simon.

He inwardly cursed Darla for escaping upstairs with Connor, but there was no reason that two couldn't play at that game.

Muttering excuses about having to check on the baby, he slipped away as fast as good manners allowed, hoping that the Seer would be too busy to come upstairs after him.

Darla greeted him with a half sympathetic, half amused smile.

"I wondered how long you'd last."

* * *

Wesley had a headache.

The twenty or so children rampaging through the lobby seemed incapable of walking when running was an option or of speaking in a tone of voice that didn't all but deafen one.

Looking around him, he noted the absence of three of those that should have been present.

Thankfully for them, Cordelia was absorbed in directing a boisterous game of Musical Chairs and hadn't noticed.

Arming himself with a bowl of potato chips and a couple of bag of candy, Wesley quietly made his exit, moving up the stairs as quickly as he could.

When he opened the door of Angel's suite, he found Fred, Angel and Darla sitting on the bed, the two vampires listening gravely while the little girl explained the rules of the board game she was setting up.

Any question over whether or not he would be welcomed was set aside when he offered the purloined food.

* * *

_**An hour and a half later.**_

Much to their credit, Gunn and Lorne didn't report the absence of the four truants and Cordelia had been kept so busy hosting the party that their absence had gone unnoticed.

The games were winding down, however, and there was one final event, one at which Fred's presence, if not that of the other three, was essential.

"Cake time." Gunn announced to the four escapees, who were enjoying their own little party away from the madhouse downstairs. "I'm afraid you need to make an appearance, baby girl."

"Okay." Fred agreed with some reluctance, comforting herself with the thought that it would be over soon.

She kept a tight grip on Angel's hand as they descended.

With it's seven candles lit and the lobby darkened, the cake looked very pretty and it almost seemed a shame to blow them out.

"Make a wish." Angel reminded her gently.

Her eyes tightly screwed shut, she took a deep breath and blew out the candles, briefly sending the lobby into darkness.

* * *

_**Later that night.**_

Once the guests had departed, Cordelia's leadership skills had turned to the task of organizing a clean up.

It must be confessed, however, that the former cheerleader had preferred to direct the others rather than to clean up herself.

By the time the lobby was clean, they were all exhausted.

Fred, who had exchanged her costume for her nightdress, was fast asleep on the couch.

Gently scooping her up, Angel carried her upstairs, moving slowly and smoothly so as not to wake her.

He had resolved that the next night, her actual birthday, they were all going out to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate.

He set her down on her bed, tucking the covers closely around her, smiling as she yawned and murmured something in her sleep.

"Goodnight, darling."

" 'Night, Daddy."

TBC.


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.  
**  
Requirements:  
**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note: **To Marcus Lazarus - Yes, Groo will be appearing. He has a purpose to fulfil.

**Author's Note II: **To Imzadi - while Angel's reaction to having Lindsey as his son's stepfather would be priceless, I'm afraid I have no plans to include him in this story or to pair him with Darla.

**Author's Note III: **This chapter takes place about two months after the last and at the time of the episode 'Waiting In The Wings'.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

"It's not fair." Fred pouted. "Why couldn't I go to the ballet?"

"I didn't get asked either." Lorne pointed out, juggling Connor and a bottle of warm milk. He offered the little girl a smile. "Besides, if we went, who'd look out for Connor?"

"I guess." Fred brightened as she gently touched her adopted brother's hand, beaming as he grabbed her finger in a surprisingly strong grasp before bringing it to his mouth for closer inspection.

"Hey there, crumpet, she needs that finger." Lorne chided playfully, holding up the bottle. "How's about you let her go and take your yummy baba?"

Connor's wide blue eyes fixed on the proffered bottle for a split second before he returned his attention to Fred, whose finger he was enthusiastically chewing.

"Can I hold him?"

"Sure, honey. . ." Lorne froze midway through passing the baby into the little girl's arms at the sound of movement in the hallway.

Fred's eyes widened. "I think someone's there." She gently wrested her finger from Connor and ran across to the door.

"Wait!"

Heedless of Lorne's warning she opened the door, her face paling as she took in the tall figure before her.

* * *

****

**_An hour later_**

Cordelia yawned as she made her way down the steps into the lobby. "I'm beat." She announced, her words punctuated by another yawn.

"I don't see why." Wesley teased. "You slept through most of the second act."

She glared at him.

After the battle with the Count's minions, she felt she had earned the right to be tired.

Gunn had been slightly upset about missing the bulk of the second act of the ballet but the fight seemed to have cheered him up to no end.

Neither or Angel nor Darla had said much since leaving the theatre, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Daddy!" Fred made a dash for Angel as soon as he entered the hotel.

"What are you doing up at this hour, young lady?" Angel chided playfully, swinging her up into his arms, inwardly rejoicing at the the word 'Daddy'.

She just hugged him, suppressing a yawn.

A discreet cough and a timid "Princess?" caused Cordelia to run forward, a smile on her face.

"Groo!"

Darla raised a questioning eyebrow. "Groo?"

Angel tried to keep from scowling.

_/Great. /_

_

* * *

_

"I think he's gotten shorter. Does he seem smaller to you?"

"Yes." Fred paused reflectively for a moment. "But maybe I just got taller."

To say that Angel was annoyed by Groo's arrival would have been an understatement of mammoth proportions.

It wasn't that he was jealous - although he maintained that he could have easily taken him during their fight in Pylea, even without turning into the AngelBeast- but the warrior, celebrated throughout his own home dimension as brave and undefeated, really rubbed him the wrong way.

Fred yawned, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"I think it's past your bedtime."

The little girl made no protest as she was carried into her own room and tucked into bed.

"Goodnight." Angel carefully brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "You're not going to join the Groosalugg's fan club, are you?"

"Uh-uh."

He grinned. "That's my girl."

* * *

****

**_T_****_he next morning._**

"And what kind of clothes did people wear when you were little?" Fred watched eagerly as Darla sketcheda few pictures of the kind of clothes that had been worn in her time. She wrinkled her nose. "Wasn't it really uncomfortable having to wear such heavy dresses?"

"Tell me about it." Darla sighed. "Not as bad as hoop skirts, though."

"What are you two up to?" Angel asked, ruffling Fred's long hair affectionately.

"Mommy was telling me about what things were like when she was alive." Fred told him.

Angel smiled. Over the past two months, since she had begun to refer to him as 'Daddy', she had adopted Darla as 'Mommy' and, though he knew that the other vampire would never have admitted it, even under torture, Darla loved it.

Cordelia hadn't been overly impressed by the development and had made several snide remarks about their unorthodox family unit and had tried to discourage Fred from spending time with Darla, but the little girl refused to be swayed.

"It's for a history project for school." Fred told Angel. "We're learning about Colonial times."

"I bet you'll be the only one with a primary source." Angel teased her gently.

"Don't worry, Daddy." She smiled up at him. "I won't tell my teacher that Mommy's four hundred."

"You'd better not." Darla gasped in mock horror. "Somehow I don't think she'd take that too well."

"What strange garments." Groo's curious expression was almost childlike as he leaned forward to study Darla's drawings, not noticing that Fred shrank closer to her adopted mother at his approach. "How did your warriors fight in this garb?"

"They managed." Darla responded shortly, automatically wrapping her arms protectively around the seven year old sitting on her lap. She pointedly glanced towards her watch. "It's nearly half eight, Fred. We'd better find Gunn to drive you to school."

Although the seven year old adored school, Angelcouldn't remember ever seeing her quite so eager to go there.

* * *

****

**_Afternoon._**

"Wesley?" Fred, dropped off to the hotel by the mother of one of her classmates, knocked politely before entering the office.

The sight she had come across when she had entered the office to find Angel - although not really him,the vampire had made certain to stress - and the strange lady kissing on the desk had cured her of entering a room without knocking.

He looked up at her without really seeing her, preoccupied with his work. "What is it, Fred?"

"Where is everybody?"

"Out. Angel and Darla are hunting a demon in the sewers and the others are tracking him above ground. Lorne's upstairs with Connor."

"The Groosalugg isn't here, is he?" Her eyes were wide with apprehension.

"No." Had he not been so absorbed in his translation, Wesley would have been troubled by the slight fear he saw in her face.

"I'm going to go upstairs and do my homework, okay."

"Okay." He didn't even look up from the sheet of paper in front of him.

Despite his best efforts, he couldn't force the words into anything but his first interpretation.

The words, scrawled in black ink on a sheet of yellow paper, mocked him.

_'The Father Will Kill The Son.'_

TBC.

_Author's Note: That's all for now. Please review._


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive. 

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.  
**  
Requirements:  
**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note I: **Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter written and posted.

**Author's Note II: **This chapter takes place just after the episode 'Loyalty'.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

The vampires hissed and snarled, pulling at their binds in an effort to get free as they were used as punching bags by the small group of fighters.

Holtz watched the proceedings with a clinical, almost detached expression, his thoughts on the events in the alley less than three months ago, and on his life in England more than two hundred years ago.

The irony of the vampires that had murdered his having their own did not amuse him in the least.

Their baby son wouldn't be much younger than his own Danny had been and the little girl, though a year or two younger than Sarah, had looked up at Angel with the same adoring expression her remembered his own daughter - his favourite, despite the attitude at the time, which decreed that a daughter was less valuable than a son - had directed at him.

What kind of a world was this where innocent children could be left at the mercy of evil monsters, while loving parents lost theirs?

It was wrong.

The information his spies had given him about the prophecy made him even more determined to see this wrong rectified.

Angelus was going to kill his own son.

He would not allow that to happen.

* * *

****

**_Hyperion Hotel._**

Despite his best efforts, he couldn't disprove the prophecy. Every book he read, every ancient text he studied and every oracle he consulted only served to confirm what he had already learned.

When it would happen, he didn't know.

Would it be when Connor was an old man, perhaps terminally ill? Would it be when he was a grown man, when, for whatever reason, he had become an enemy, a threat? Would it be, as he very much feared, in the very near future, when he was still a helpless infant?

Wesley didn't even want to think about that prospect, but after the signs, and worse still, Angel's jest the night before, he couldn't ignore that possibility.

_"At least I'd have had something to snack on."_

Angel's words after the earthquake that had damaged his room, his smile as he cradled Connor's tiny body in his arms, had caused Wesley's blood to run cold.

He didn't like to think his teammate and friend capable of harming his own child, but it was a possibility that he could no longer ignore.

And what about Fred?

The prophecy hadn't mentioned her, but then, the deaths of very few of the people Angel killed were likely to have been predicted hundreds of years in advance.

Cordelia was away, or she would have been the first person that he consulted. He had no doubt that Gunn would tell him that he was being ridiculous, that no prophecy could be taken as written in stone, that Angel would never hurt Connor and that even if he tried, they would stop him. As much as he longed for that reassurance, Wesley couldn't allow himself to let his guard down. Lorne was a possibility as a confidant, but he feared that the green demon would insist that he take his concerns to Angel, whom he couldn't talk to for obvious reasons. He didn't trust Darla enough, ensouled or not, to confide in her and Fred was only seven.

The only person to know of his fears was Holtz, who, despite his hatred of Angel and Darla, seemed genuinely interested in protecting their son.

Sighing, Wesley stared sown at the sheet of paper on which the prophecy was written, as though he could change the words with the force of his gaze.

They remained the same.

* * *

****

**_That night._**

"Cordelia and the Groosalugg should be back next week." Angel observed, looking up from changing Connor's diaper, no easy task now that the baby boy had grown bigger and mastered the art of wriggling. "Hold still, buddy." He chided his son playfully. "I've barely got the hang of these things and you're not helping."

"What do you know about the Groosalugg?"

He looked up, surprised by Darla's question. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

"You know he's from Pylea, right? Well, back there he was their champion, 'the brave and undefeated'." He snorted in derision. "I could have kicked his ass, even without turning into the Beast."

"Yes, I'm sure you could have." Her tone was dismissive. "Do you know if Fred knew him before she left Pylea?"

"I know that she knew _of _him. I don't know if they had ever actually met." He met her gaze. "You're worried." It wasn't a question.

"She's terrified of him. I could see it in her eyes every time she looked at him."

"You think that he might have done something that made her so afraid of him?" Angel didn't want to admit that that possibility had struck him too. "I may not like him. . ."

"It's not a question of 'may'." Darla interrupted.

"Fine, I don't like him but I don't think he's the type to hurt a little kid." He said, remembering the eager, naive warrior. Despite his words, he was concerned. "Maybe it's just bad memories of Pylea."

"She's not afraid of Lorne."

"How many people do you know who _could_ be afraid of Lorne?"

"Point taken." She conceded. "Still, this is something I want to get to the bottom of - before he and Cordelia get back."

"I agree, but you know Fred, she never talks about Pylea and pushing her just makes things worse. Any ideas?"

"None, unless. . ." She met his eyes, knowing that he was thinking the same thing she was.

"Lorne!"

TBC.

_Author's Note: That's all for now. Don't forget to review._


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.

**Requirements:**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"Let me get this straight." Lorne regarded the two vampires skeptically. "You want me to trick your little girl into singing and probe her thoughts without her permission, then tell you what I pick up from her. Haven't either of you ever heard of empath-client confidentiality?"

"Please, Lorne." Angel said quietly. "We need you to. . ."

"I need to know if he ever laid a hand on my daughter, so I know whether I'll be ripping out his intestines the second I see him." Darla cut in, her voice deceptively calm.

"There could be a perfectly innocent explanation for this." Lorne reminded them

"We have to know for sure." Angel said.

"Fine." Lorne nodded his agreement. "You can rest easy, cupcake. Sherlock Lorne is on the case."

* * *

He had one day. One day to get Connor to safety before Holtz took the task upon himself.

Watching Angel playing with his son, it was difficult to believe that he would ever pose a threat to the baby boy, but he had witnessed the unusual displays of temper, the hunger that had been in his eyes when he had made the half-joking comment about snacking on Connor.

The prophecy was clear but perhaps, with an effort on his part, that prophecy could be averted.

Angel couldn't kill Connor if Connor wasn't there.

* * *

"Come on, little guy, it's okay. Do you miss your daddy and your mommy? It's okay, they'll be back soon, they just have some Wraith-ers to take care of. Shh."

Unmoved by Lorne's pleas, baby Connor continued to wail as the green demon rocked him back and forth.

"What's wrong with Connor?" Fred stood on tiptoe to touch his little hand.

"I think he's just in cranky mode today." Lorne smiled down at the little girl, seeing an opportunity and deciding to take it.

Although he had his own theories about why the seven year old would be frightened of the Groosalugg, he was not prepared to dismiss the possibility that there was a more sinister reason for it.

"Poor Connor." She made a face to try to make him smile but, when Connor was in one of his moods, he could rarely be amused by anything less than one of his parents' vamp faces.

"Could you take him for a minute, cutiekins?" Lorne carefully passed the baby into her arms. "Maybe sing to him or something while I get a bottle warmed up for Mr Cranky Pants."

Connor frowned a little, as if he understood that he was being insulted.

"Okay." Little Fred settled down on the couch, cradling her baby brother carefully, gently rocking him back and forth as she sang a song she had learned in school, never noticing that Lorne hung back in the doorway, listening intently.

* * *

"You want to see something cool?" Angel asked Connor, his thoughts half on getting Lorne by himself as soon as Fred was finished showing himself and Darla her almost completed school project. "This is your old man's favorite broad sword."

"Starting him young, aren't you?" Wesley asked from behind him.

"You're never too young to start appreciating classic weaponry."

"I'll remind you of that the next time Fred wants to test the firing mechanism of the crossbow."

"Very funny. You know," Angel's voice became pensive. "Connor's going to be crawling any time now. We've got to start baby proofing this place." He passed Connor over to Wesley. "Here take him. It's alright." He tickled his son's chin. It's your Uncle Wes. Yeah, he loves you bunches! He's just - English."

The former Watcher cradled Connor awkwardly as Angel studied the weapon's cabinet to determine the best way of keeping sharp objects out of tiny hands.

"I say we put a chain and a combination lock on the weapons. Better safe than sorry. Isn't that right, buddy?" He kissed the top of Connor's head, watching him gurgle. "He likes you. I can tell."

I like him, too." Wesley jumped at his chance. "As a matter of fact I was thinking, perhaps I'd take him and Fred to the park or the beach, just the three of us. Maybe there'll be some time in the next day or two."

Fred had evidently finished displaying her project. Clutching it and her book to her chest, she left the office and headed upstairs to do her homework. As soon as she had left, Darla signaled for Angel to join them in the office.

"Sounds great." Angel said quickly as he moved into the office. "Yeah. Count on it."

Wesley breathed a sigh of relief as his friend moved away.

At least now he had a chance to get the two children to safety.

* * *

"You're sure? You're absolutely positive? You don't need to do another reading or anything to make sure?"

"As sure as I'm ever going to be, Angelcakes." Lorne said patiently. "He never did anything to Freddikins, they never even met until they day she left Pylea."

"But she was so afraid of him." Though relieved, Darla was still concerned.

"One thing you have to understand about Pylea is that the Groosalugg is practically the boogeyman over there, worse even. I remember my mother telling me that if I didn't practice my hunting, he'd come after me, that if left my room after dark he'd chew my arm off and turn my intestines into a belt - what do you think they'd tell a human kid, a slave? I wouldn't even like to think about it."

"And by Pylean standards, I'm guessing a slave running away is about the worst thing they can do." Darla suggested.

"Pretty much." Lorne responded. "They wanted to behead her for no reason I can see."

"But doesn't she see that Groo's not going to do anything to her? Or that we'd kill him in a second if he tried?" Angel pressed.

"She's been conditioned to fear him since age four." Lorne reminded him gently. "She heard horror stories about things he would do to her if she stepped out of line for more than two years. That's not something she can just forget."

"Do you think she'll ever be able to get past what happened to her there?" Darla asked quietly.

"I don't know." Lorne responded sadly. "I really don't."

* * *

Striding purposefully into the lobby, Wesley paused by the cradle and packed some things into a diaper bag.

"What are you doing?" Lorne asked, walking in to see him packing.

"Hi." Wesley said, trying to sound casual. "I'm taking Connor."

"Where?"

"To my place for the night. I'm taking him and Fred to the park in the morning. I talked to Angel before. He knows all about it." he looked around. "Where is Fred?"

"I think Darla took her out for tacos and a movie. Girl's night out." He saw the troubled expression on Wesley's face. "They might have forgotten, or maybe they'll drop her over later on."

Wesley was silent for a moment. He didn't have long before Holtz would show up to take Connor and Fred and he wanted to have both children as far away from the hotel as possible when he arrived. If he waited for Darla and Fred to return, Holtz might very well show up before they did, and even if the vampire hunter failed to remove the baby, Angel and Darla would be highly unlikely to allow either child out of their sight after that.

If he took Connor now, he could avert the prophecy and, once the baby boy was safe, he could contact Gunn or Lorne, explain what was happening and they could bring Fred to him.

"Hey, Angel didn't say anything about..." Lorne shrugged. "Well, he probably forgot. He went off in kind of a hurry."

"What happened?"

"Well, he was acting kind of weird this morning. I'm sure you noticed. Then when he came back from killing the Wraith-ers..."

Connor's wails cut him off.

"Hey, it's okay." Wesley scooped up the crying baby. "It's your Uncle Wes. You like your Uncle Wes. We're gonna have a great time." Bouncing the baby in his arms, he hummed a lullaby for a few seconds before remembering the other member of his audience.

As he frequently reminded his friends, Lorne was a lover, not a fighter. The scuffle that followed was brief before Wesley took a statue from the cabinet behind his desk and knocked the demon out and hurried back to the bassinet to take Connor.

"Here. All right. That's a boy. That's a boy." Baby in arms, the former Watcher turned to find himself face to face with the person he wanted to protect Connor from. "Angel."

"Where is everybody?"

"I don't know about Gunn, Darla and Fred are out, Lorne's seeing a client. I'm watching the baby. In fact, I packed up some overnight things. We talked about me taking Connor and Fred to the park and the one across from my place is... It's always full of kids. I thought he could spend the night with me. Maybe Gunn could bring Fred over in the morning." He suggested, thinking that he could leave a message in his apartment.

"That's probably a really good idea." Angel said slowly, not happy with the idea of his son spending a night away from home.

Wes exhaled in relief, pausing before leaving. "You wanna say good-bye?" He offered, not knowing if he would ever be able to bring Connor back.

"Okay. Hey. He-he. Sleep tight, big guy." Angel kissed the baby in his arms. "Daddy will see you real soon." His expression was a little anxious as he returned the baby to his friend. "Just keep and eye... I check on him a lot during the night. You got his pediatrician's number, his baby formula?"

"I've got all that."

"You ever hear of a time-traveling demon by the name of Sahjhan?"

"No."

"The guy that brought Holtz here. He thinks I'm his sworn enemy. I don't know him from Adam. Can you hit the books before you go?"

Wesley was able, with great difficulty, to restrain himself from checking his watch, wanting to be gone as soon as possible, to give himself as big a head start as he could.

Gunn's return doubled the chance that they would find Lorne's prone form and start asking questions he was far from willing to answer.

"You know, I've got better reference materials for your demon at home," Wesley said hastily. "And Connor is getting sleepy. Why don't I look into it there?"

"Ah, okay." Angel backed away from his son reluctantly. "Just call me if you find something."

"I guess, ah - I'll see everyone tomorrow."

"Hey, Wes?" The Englishman turned, half-afraid Angel would announce that he had changed his mind. "What's the closest emergency room to your place?"

"Drew Medical. One minute away." He hurried towards the exit, Connor held close. "Top infant care center. Don't worry."

Angel sighed as he tidied away Connor's toys. "Well, my first whole night without the kid."

* * *

It didn't seem possible.

Wesley was his friend, why would he take Connor from him? What would make him do it?

At the moment, seeing Connor in the arms of his enemy, while Lilah and her team of lackeys surrounded them, it seemed like a nightmare from which he could never awaken.

"You are gonna give us the kid, Captain Holtz." Lilah's voice was commanding.

"Don't!" Angel called anxiously.

"That's cute. You'd rather see the fanatic with the baby than us?" Lilah returned her attention to Holtz. "Those are automatic weapons pointed at you. They didn't have them in your time. They fire sixteen bullets per second."

"And if they were going to use them they would have already. They want the baby alive." Although Holtz was his enemy, Angel knew that he was a good person, something he was equally sure that Lilah wasn't.

"Something we all have in common." Holtz said.

The air shimmered for a moment as Sahjahn appeared before them.

Not all of us." He looked across at Lilah. "You do not want the child alive." He reminded her. "You want the child dead. That was our arrangement."

She laughed shortly. "Yeah. I'm a lawyer. Have you met me? We have a new arrangement. I'm keeping the baby."

"You can't do that!"

"Ignore the loud mouth with the bad skin." Lilah said dismissively. "He's impotent in this dimension."

"We're leaving." Holtz announced, holding Connor firmly. He had hoped to have both children, to recreate his family, but even without the girl he had no intention of giving up the boy.

"No one's going anywhere." Lilah tried to sound in control of the situation.

One of the commandos in her squad moved forward, only to be knocked to the ground by Angel, who took his weapon and turned it on the lawyer.

"Don't shoot!" She called immediately.

"Yeah. You really don't want to. Your bullets won't kill me. But mine will kill you - and her first."

Holtz met his eyes. "He'll be dead before I hit the ground." He warned unnecessarily.

"I know."

"So. I'm going to leave now, right? With me, he gets to live, anyone tries to take him, he dies."

"Take him." Angel's heart was breaking as he spoke the words.

"I will take good care of him, as though he were my own son. He'll never even know you existed. Don't come after me. You will though, won't you? Maybe I should just..." His hand tightened around Connor's little neck.

"No. Please." Angel said desperately, knowing that he would much rather have his son alive in Holtz's care than dead at his feet. "Take him."

"Lekko najine forkahdio!" As soon as Sahjahn had intoned the words, a portal, like a hole burned into the horizon, appeared before them. "What you are looking into is the Quortoth, the darkest of the dark worlds. So, I can widen the portal and you can all be swallowed up by a world you can not begin to imagine - or you can keep your word and kill that child. Now!" When none of them made a move to comply, he spread his arms wide. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Kill it." Seeing the portal grow wider, Lilah barked the order.

Shoving Justine out of the way, Holtz darted forward, leaping through the portal, leaving those in his wake frozen in place.

"Wow. I didn't count on that. Kinda takes care of my problem." Sahjahn smirked, raising his arms a second time. "Forkahdio najine lekko." The portal disappeared. "All right then. have a good summer." He disapparated.

"Hmph!" Lilah looked down at the horrified, unmoving Angel. "Well, I'm looking at a mountain of paperwork."

One of the commandos spoke up. "Should we do something about..." He gestured towards Angel.

"Yes, we should." She watched him in satisfaction. "We should let him suffer."

Left alone in front of the spot where the portal that had spirited his child from him had been, Angel could barely croak out his son's name.

"Connor."

TBC.

_Author's Note: To those who thought Groo was evil, he definitely wasn't. I figured that, without some kind of distraction, Angel or Darla would have seen that something was wrong with Wesley._


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.

**Requirements:**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note I: **To maybe-i'm-crazy, Kat Hawkins and C'est Magnifique - I'd like to go on record now as swearing that there will be NO Cordelia/Connor relationship in this story. I didn't like it on the show, I'm not going to write it here.

**Author's Note II: **To seraphim2db - I wouldn't have had the heart to send poor little Fred into another Hell dimension, or to take both of Angel and Darla's children away from them. Plus it would kind of have been cheating the challenge.

**Author's Note III: **I'm twisting the events of the episodes 'Sleep Tight' and 'Forgiving' to suit my own purposes. Anything I don't alude to, happened more or less as it did onscreen.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Darla had known.

Mybe it had been a maternal instinct, or maybe it had had something to do with the fact that she and Connor had once shared a soul, that his soul had left it's imprint on her, but she had known, deep down, that something had happened to her son, even before she and Fredhad arrived at the hotel to find Connor and Angel gone, Lorne injured and Gunn bewildered.

"I don't believe it." Fred said stubbornly, looking from adult to adult, hoping that one of them would assure her that it had all been a stupid joke, or that she would wake up and find out that it had never happened. "Connor's not gone, he isn't."

"I'm sorry, sweetie." Lorne said gently. "But he is."

"Not like that." The little girl backed away from him, shaking her head, her brown eyes filling with tears. "Not a portal."

"Fred. . ." Gunn tried to comfort her.

"There's pulling and there's noise and there's nothing to hold on to, nothing." The little girl spoke almost incoherently. "He must have been so scared."

"Honey," Lorne reached out to hug her but she didn't move, her mind replaying memories of her own experience with portals.

Darla was silent, scarcely aware of anything anyone else was saying, too numb to respond.

"This is making less and less sense." Gunn objected. "You expect us to believe that Wesley just walked right up to Holtz and handed over Connor?"

"They'd been meeting secretly. I read that much before Wesley attacked me."

"Then you read him wrong." Gunn maintained, unable or unwilling to believe that there friend could have betrayed them like this.

"He was not taking Connor for a stroll, Charles. When he left here with that child, he wasn't planning on coming back. Ever."

"Why?" Fred's voice was small, almost inaudible.

"I don't care why." Angel spoke up from the entrance to the hotel, his face a mask of grim determination, the complete oppoosite to Darla's state of near catatonia. "All I care about now is getting my son back. Then I'll deal with those responsible. They'll all pay." His eyes were cold. "Including Wesley."

* * *

****

**_Wesley's apartment._**

Wesley's apartment was as neat as it always was, as if he had left it in readiness for his return.

A note addressed to him sat on the table and it was with some trepidation that Gunn opened it, wanting to know why his friend did what he had done.

_'. . . I haven't been able to disprove the prophecy. Holtz knows, if I can't get Connor to safety, he'll take him. There has to be some explanation for all of this, but until I find it, I have to get Connor away. Angel hasn't been himself, and I'm afraid that he might do something he'll regret. I wanted to take Fred too, but she was gone, and I couldn't stay. Holtz would have been there any moment. The prophecy doesn't mention her by name, but we can't take that risk. If you can, take Fred away and contact me. We need to keep the children away until this matter is resolved, from Angel and from Holtz._

_I'm sorry,_

_Wesley.'_

Leafing through the meticulously kept notes the former Watcher had left for him, Gunn felt a sense of dread, mingled with a slight relief at the knowledge that his friend hadn't betrayed them, that he hadn't willingly handed baby Connor over to Holtz and that his concern had, at all times, been for the child's safety.

The thought that Angel could harm Connor was a horrific one and he could imagine how Wesley must have felt when he had first read those six words.

_/I wish you'd told me, man. / _He thought. _/Why didn't you/_

_

* * *

_

****

**_Hyperion Hotel._**

Angel's expression was hard as he studied the weapon's cabinet, his eyes so empty that Lorne was reluctant to approach, especially given his lack of success.

In Angel's present state, he wouldn't have put it past him to kill the messenger.

Between Darla's eerie silence and Angel's near-psychosis, the hotel was far from being a happy place.

"I talked to a couple different sources, like you asked." He began, trying to keep his tone even and calming. "Angel, the news isn't good. This Quor-toth dimension is. . . Everyone I spoke to is afraid of it - and these are not easily rattled people. But that's. . . that's not all." He watched warily as Angel rifled through the office, choosing a staple remover and a pointed spindle used to spear messages before continuing, following the vampire out of the office and up the stairs as he spoke. "The portal you saw opened - it wasn't a portal. Because there are no portals to Quor-toth. The only way in is to rip right through the fabric of reality."

Angel barely seemed to hear him as he walked down the hall.

"This isn't a matter of finding an interdimensional hotspot, or conjuring an opening with a simple incantation." Lorne soldiered on with his explanations. "To punch through to Quor-toth would require dark, dark magicks, the kinda power it takes centuries to build. Angel. I know this isn't easy for you, but you have to hear it." He laid a hand on the vampire's arm. "Even if you somehow managed to get in, finding Connor would be like looking for a needle in a haystack the size of China."

"Needles." Angel's tone was contemplative. "I should have thought of that."

"We just don't have the resources to conjure up that much dark power." Lorne finished.

When Angel opened the door to reveal a bound and gagged Linwood Murrows, Lorne's fear and apprehension escalated.

"Oh, I think we do."

* * *

From her room, aided by her vampiric senses, Darla could hear the exchange between the two, together with the sound of soft sobs from Fred's room, but she could barely bring herself to sit upright, let alone move to comfort anyone or to stop Angel from doing something she knew that he would regret once he was himself again.

She felt numb, detached, empty.

She would have liked the comfort of crying, but even that seemed to be more than she could manage.

* * *

The book she held must have weighed almost as much as she did and Fred had some trouble balancing it as she pored through it, sifting through the various incantations specified in it's pages, trying to find one that would help her.

The teleportation spell she had used to deliver her baby brother had been ineffective. She theorized that this was because she knew nothing about Quortoth or where it was and therefore couldn't visualise the point of origin.

She wasn't prepared to lose Connor if there was anything she could possibly do to avoid it.

Her eyes fell on a promising incantation and, taking deep breath, she began sounding out the words.

* * *

When she heard the strange words, Darla's first thought had been that Angel's victim must have coughed up the portal recipe that Angel had been determined to force from him.

A split second later, her mind registered that the voice was too high to belong to an adult.

Thrusting all thoughts of her lethargy aside, the blonde vampire leapt up and dashed out of the room, all but knocking Fred's door off the hinges as she shoved it forcefully open, snatching the little girl away from the budding portal, cutting off her incantation.

"What were you thinking?" She demanded, shaking the girl slightly, not sure whether she wanted to give the seven year old the spanking of her life or to hold her and never let go.

"I wanted to bring Connor back." Fred's lower lip trembled. "I thought if I could open a portal. . ."

"Don't you understand how dangerous that is?" Darla scolded. "Even if you _could _open a portal to Quortoth, there's no way of knoing that you would be able to get back, or that you would be able to help once you were there, and we would have no way of knowing where you were. I want Connor back too, but this isn't the way to do it." She pulled the now crying little girl into her arms and held her tightly. "I won't lose _you _as well."

TBC.

_Author's Note: That's all for now, folks. Don't forget to review._


	14. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive. 

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.

**Requirements:**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note I: **I don't think it was ever specified exactly how much time passed between Connor's getting trapped in Quor'toth and his return, except that Holtz said that only days had passed. I'm estimating it at about a week and a half.

**Author's Note II: **Apologies to Gunn fans, but since he isn't about to lose his heart - and apparently give his soul - to a seven year old child, his soul is still the property of Jenoff.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**_One week later_**

When Cordelia, together with Groo, returned to the Hyperion, the hotel was a somber place.

Angel had, thankfully, not made any further attempts against Wesley's life, but his depression was palpable. He had been unable to bring himself to disassemble Connor's cot, or to pack away any of his things until Cordelia, Darla and Gunn were able, between them, to persuade him to do so.

Darla had recovered somewhat from her near catatonic state, but she didn't seem able to bear to allow little Fred out of her sight for a moment.

Fred was still pretty quiet, and the adults were all on guard against any further attempts on her part to open another portal.

The nightmares that had been absent for the past couple of months made a reappearance and it was far from unusual for her to make her way into Angel or Darla's rooms at night.

All in all, Cordelia reflected, it had not been a happy homecoming.

* * *

"Angel," The expression on Groo's face was serious as he tapped Angel on the shoulder. "You and I have fought side by side on more than one occasion, fellow warriors, shoulder to shoulder. By now, my counsel must assuredly hold weight, so I beseech you to heed my words..."

Angel grunted something that passed for assent.

"'Pomegranate Mist' is the wrong color for this room."

"What?" He hadn't been expecting that.

"I was thinking, and Groo agreed, that since we have to repaint the room anyway, you might like a change." Cordelia told him in a would-be casual tone. She thought it might be better for all concerned if the room didn't stay as it had been when baby Connor had slept there.

Angel raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Groo agreed?"

"Don't mock." The Seer told him sternly. "He's actually got a surprisingly good color sense."

The Pylean champion eagerly presented Angel with a colour chart. "'Sunburst splendor' is a hue more worthy of a champion. Or perhaps this unique one called..." His brow furrowed as he sounded out the word. "Purr-plah."

"Purple." Angel corrected curtly. "And yet you had no problem pronouncing 'Pomegranate'."

"It was my mother's name."

At the other side of the room, painting on of the walls -at least the lower part of it, Darla wastacking the upper part- Fred knocked against a dresser, dislodging aglass snowglobe. Bending down, she picked it up.

Angel's expression was sad as he took the snowglobe from the little girl's hand. "Don't know why I bought this for him. A whim, I guess... Thought he'd like to look at it. The snow. Doesn't ever snow in Southern California." He shook himself slightly, not wanting to show his emotions in front of the others. "Hey, you know... we shouldn't be wasting our time fixing up my place when we've got work to do."

"What work?" Gunn's response was blunt. "We haven't had a call in months."

"Well, somebody ought to be downstairs. In case a walk-in should... walk in. 'Cause we get those. Sometimes." He all but ran from the room.

Cordelia sighed as she watched her friend leave. "Never on Sundays."

* * *

Philip Spivey was far from being a healthy man.

The figure Groo carried into the lobby was silent, save for an occasional gasp for water, his skin cracked and peeling.

Although he knew that he shouldn't be quite so happy at another's distress, Angel was elated to finally have a case.

"My God. Look at his face!" Fred exclaimed in horror, catching sigh of the withered face.

Catching the little girl's arm, Angel ushered her away. "Why don't you see if we have any water in the fridge." He suggested gently.

"Some Chapstick wouldn't hurt, either, kitten." Lorne called from his position by Mr Spivey's side.

"Angel..." Cordelia tried to attract his attention.

"'We'." The vampire's face was pensive as he recalled his new client's earlier words.

"Glad you're having fun with this." Gunn quipped.

"No. He kept saying 'we'. This morning it was 'we have to go.' Now, 'we're thirsty'..."

"Okay, so he's pretentious." Cordelia said dismissively, intent on more important issues. "Angel, we have to talk about my vision."

"It can wait."

"No. It can't! You think The Powers beam me pretty pictures purely for my amusement? It tells me when someone's in danger and this time that someone's you!"

"Oh, gee, I'm in danger. What else is new? Look, I want to deal with somebody else's problems for a change. I want to deal with Mr Philip Spivey of Inglewood, who came to us this morning for help. He's the one we need to be concerned with. Not me. This has nothing to do with me."

As if deliberately contradicting him, Philip Spivey rose, pointing a wizened, accusing finger in Angel's direction. "This is all your fault."

The instant the words had been spoken, the man collapsed, his body breaking into dry chunks and dust.

"My fault?" Angel looked almost hurt.

"That's what the Sandman said."

"How is this my fault? I was trying to help him. What'd he go and say that for?"

"He didn't." Lorne swept little Fred up in his arms as a transparent, slug-like creature slithered out of the dry remains of the dead man. "That did."

"Okay, that was a thing." Gunn said, freaked out by the slithering creature.

"Big ugly slug thing." Fred shuddered. "Where'd it go?" She looked around fearfully, half expecting it to spring up behind her.

"It has vanished. Like the glass eels of the Krag Swamps in UxenBlarg." Seeing the expressions on the others' faces, Groo shrugged sheepishly. "Just making an observation."

"So what the hell was it?" Gunn looked across at Angel for answers.

"Don't look at me." Angel protested. "I don't know what it is, or what it has to do with me."

"Angel..." Darla, speaking for the first time, nodded meaningfully towards the late Philip Spivey, whose remains were scattered across the scarlet pentagram painted on the floor of the lobby.

* * *

Angel had asked her to look at the books to see if she could find anything about the creatures infesting the hotel, but Fred knew perfectly well that the only reason she was closeted in the office was so that she would be safe. Although she would normally have objected to being treated like a baby, under the circumstances, she wasn't going to complain this time.

Even with her lantern, the room was dark and gloomy, the dim light spreading shadows across the walls.

She felt a cold shiver travel up her spine as a low, squishing sound reached her ears.

She tried to scream, but the creature forced it's way into her mouth, choking off her cries.

* * *

"Fred?" Darla tapped on the door. "It's me, honey, open the door." As soon as the door was open enough to allow her to slip through, Darla entered and closed the door quickly, not wanting to allow any of the slugs access to the room. "Sorry it took me so long to get back, I was checking to make sure that none of those things were around."

Fred made no response, just returned to the desk and huddling on the chair.

"Scared, very scared." Her voice was all but inaudible.

"I know." Darla reached out to take the little girl's hand in hers, attributing the chilliness of it to fear. "It's going to be okay. We'll get rid of these things."

"We have to get out of here."

Darla's eyes widened in horror as Fred pulled her hand away to break the snowglobe in her other hand, drinking the liquid within. "No..."

The little girl's eyes were blank as she looked up. "We're thirsty."

* * *

"Darla?" Hearing the noise behind him, Angel turned to see Darla enter, carrying Fred in her arms.

"We have a problem." She stated grimly, setting the little girl on her feet and gesturing to the bottle of water she was rapidly draining.

"Fred..." Angel knelt down in front of her, cupping her face and guiding it to look at him. "Can you hear me?"

The foggy expression in her eyes lifted momentarily. "Daddy?"

"Fred?"

"I... feel it. Its needs. Its... thirst. Oh, god, I'm so thirsty!" The little girl gasped out the words.

"Hang on, baby." Darla told her soothingly. "We're getting you to a hospital."

"NO!" Fred all but shrieked. "We... No... It wants that... To escape. Spread." She clutched at Darla's hand. "You can't let it... let us... It... It... will... kill..." She returned her gaze to Angel. "Oh, it really doesn't like you."

"The feeling's mutual." Angel said darkly. He tried to pick her up. "Come on, we're going to the hospital."

Fred pulled away, shaking. "No... no... no... no... no." She chanted.

"Here!" Groo called out, finally finding the source of the sound and using his axe to cut through the floor.

Within seconds they all knew that this had been a mistake as hundreds of the slugs slithered through the hole in their direction.

Snatching Fred up, Angel led the retreat, dashing in the direction of the kitchen, waiting until they were all in before bolting it shut.

"No more running. Too hot. Too hot." Fred babbled.

Inspired, Angel moved to the industrial ovens, turning them on. "Groo, lock the other doors! Lorne, turn on the ovens!"

"We're gonna cook 'em?" Lorne asked incredulously.

"We're gonna cook the air. Dry it out." Angel explained. "Make it so uncomfortable for them, they won't want in."

Fred's piercing scream cut through the room.

"Now, that's what I call uncomfortable." Lorne quipped half-heartedly, unnerved by the sound.

"Mommy! Where's Mommy?"

* * *

****

**_Wesley's apartment_**

The pounding on the door was loud and insistent.

Wesley had scarcely opened the door to see who was so determined to see him when a strong hand reached out, grabbing him by the shirt and hauling him out of the apartment.

* * *

****

**_Hyperion Hotel_**

His daughter seemed heartbreakingly fragile as he carried her through the corridors of the hotel, intent on getting her medical attention, although he had no idea how he would explain this.

As he made his way into the lobby, the door was flung open and Darla marched in, half-dragging, half-carrying Wesley.

"What is he...?" Angel felt his hackles rise.

"Shut up!" Darla barked, releasing Wesley and taking Fred from Angel.

"She needs a doctor."

"No," Wesley, still unnerved by being virtually kidnapped, produced a bottle of vodka. "She needs this."

Cradling the little girl in her arms, Darla held her while Wesley forced the liquid into her mouth.

Although it took only seconds, it felt like centuries to both Angel and Darla before Fred coughed up the slug, now a sickly green colour.

Angel took immense pleasure in impaling it.

* * *

"How is she?" Cordelia asked, looking down at the little girl lying on the couch.

"She may have a hangover when she wakes up, but she'll be fine." Wesley reported.

Nobody seemed overly comfortable with the former Watcher's presence.

"I'm glad that's over."Gunn said, wanting to break the extremely awkward silence.

"Over?" Lorne demanded incredulously. "This isn't over. Everybody forgetting a little unexpected company on the way. Goes by the initials of 'The Destroyer'?"

"The Destroyer!" Fred sat bolt upright at the name. "I remember... The Destroyer's coming..."

"Right. We got that. Any idea when?" Cordelia asked.

"Um..." Fred's gaze fixed on the lobby, where a huge electrical charge was forming. "I think now."

The monster that emerged was one of the ugliest Angel had ever seen -which, given his history, was saying something. He stood his ground, ready to do battle, but it was unnecessary.

A second figure, a teenager clad in what looked like an assortment of animal skins made short work of the creature before turning, fixing Angel and Darla with a cold stare.

"Mom, Dad...hello."

TBC.

_Author's Note: I hope to have the next chapter up soon. In the meantime, please review._


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive. 

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.

Requirements:

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note I:** To gidgetgirl - Much as I'd like to, I can't take credit for the Angel/Groo paint discussion. I took that from the episode.

**Author's Note II:** Since I left a cliffhanger last time, I decided I should try to get the next update out sooner rather than later.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 14**

"Are we sure this is Connor?" Gunn asked, concerned. "Just because he called you two Mom and Dad doesn't mean."

"It was Connor." Angel cut him off.

"No doubt about it." Darla said at the same time.

Even if he hadn't spoken, both parents would have sensed that the boy, who had fled after the brief fight, was their son.

"Couple of weeks ago he was wearing diapers. Now he's a teenager?" Gunn found the whole situation unbelievable.

"Tell me we don't live in a soap opera." Cordelia quipped half-heartedly.

"Yeah, well, personally I'm less worried about the 'how he grew up' than the 'why he came back'." Lorne said.

"He came back because he could. He found a way to escape that place." Angel insisted.

"I don't know..." Lorne was doubtful.

"He's angry and afraid. As soon as I get a chance to talk to him..."

"As soon as we get a chance to talk to him." Darla corrected.

"The seventeen goes all the way downtown." Wesley reported, referring to the bus Connor had leapt onto when he was making his escape. "It ends up at Union Station." He offered the vampire a print out of the bus schedule.

Angel accepted the slip of paper, nodding acknowledgement. "Thanks." His tone was stiff. Although he was grateful to the other man for saving his daughter's life and always would be, he wasn't ready to welcome the former Watcher back with open arms just yet. "Okay. Look, I'm going underground."

"So am I." Darla's tone brooked no argument. "Somebody hit the surface streets. We'll bring him home."

They was gone before anyone could respond.

A hissing, crackling sound from the area above the pentagram drew everyone's attention to the ceter of the lobby.

"Uh-oh." Fred said softly.

Cordelia seconded her sentiments. "This can't be good."

* * *

"Connor's probably so scared." Fred said softly. "He's all alone."

"I know." Wesley tried to sound reassuring. "But Angel and Darla will find him. And from what I saw, he can take care of himself."

"How is he a teenager now?"

"Time must pass faster in Quor'toth than it does here." He explained. "Some dimensions - like Pylea - run on the same time as this one, and others are very different; a day might pass here when a year passes elsewhere, or vice versa."

"Oh." The little girl accepted the explanation. She was silent for a moment before asking her next question. "If Connor's a teenager now, is he still my baby brother?"

* * *

Of all the places they could have found their son, this was not one of the best scenarios they could have imagined.

The small apartment was dark and damp, paint peeling from walls that reeked of mildew.

When they found him, Connor was kneeling next to the bathtub, where a young girl lay, a syringe sticking out of her arm.

"Sunny?" She was already turning cold and stiff.

"Connor?" Darla approached warily.

"She didn't shoot you up with any of that stuff, did she?" Angel demanded, pushing past Darla to examine his son's arm.

"No." Connor's response was cold as he pulled free.

"Okay. I'm sorry." Angel hastened to placate him. "I just..." He glanced down at Sunny. "We'll take care of this, okay? Together."

"It's too late."

"Connor." Darla tried to take his hand. "I'm sorry about...Was she your friend? Connor? Just talk to us."

"Well, you know, I figure you have to be feeling like you traded in one hell dimension for another right about now," Angel began. "But if you just let us... What are you doing?" He asked, seeing Connor pick up and sniff a leather jacket. "What is that?" He took the jacket from him.

"Give it back!"

"Why? Who're you tracking?" Angel stiffened as realization hit. ""Right. I get it. You're going after they guy that gave her the junk."

"His medicine killed her." Connor's tone was sullen.

"And you're going to do what about it?" Darla asked calmly.

"Punish."

"You mean kill."

Connor made another attempt to snatch the jacket from Angel.

"Slow down." The vampire chided his son, holding the jacket firmly.

Snarling, the teenager charged.

"Listen to me!" Angel caught the boy and pushed him against the wall.

"No!"

"You will listen." Angel ground out the words. "I'm not gonna let you walk out that door and get into any more trouble. Hear me?"

"Fine." Connor made another attempt at attacking his father, only to end up knocked flat on his back. He swatted away the hand Angel extended to help him up.

"I'm sorry." Angel tried to keep his tone calming, not wanting to antagonize the teenager more than he already was. "You just don't understand how this world works."

"I understand. Sunny was nice. Now she's dead."

"Connor..." Darla's tone was pleading as she spoke his name.

"Don't call me that." He snapped. "My name is Stephen."

"Fine, Stephen." Darla amended.

"Okay...Steven. It's a good name. Not Irish, but..."

"Angel!"

"Right. Look - I know we haven't gotten off to a great start here, but if we can just - take a minute. That'd be good. Please, just..."

"Don't run from us." Darla asked softly. "We lost you once. Talk to us. There's so much we need to know."

"You been okay? I mean - what was it like there? Did you have any friends? Okay, I mean, not friends." Angel fumbled awkwardly. "It's not like you were at summer camp. I mean, you were stuck in a hell dimension. Connor, I'm so sorry. I tried to get you back. I did. I tried to come after you. I would have done anything. I just... I just... I couldn't find a way in."

"I found a way out." Connor pointed out coldly.

"You did." Darla said quietly. "You came back to us."

"You must have a million questions."

"No." Connor scowled at them both. "My father told me everything."

"Holtz?" Darla all but growled the name. "Holtz is not your father, that I can guarantee."

"Stop!" Connor shouted. "You don't get to say that name! You don't even get to think it!"

Had they been mortal, both Angel and Darla's hearts would have stopped beating at the sound of the hatred in his voice, and the realization of just how far against them Holtz had turned their son.

* * *

Connor was alive. They could be thankful for that much, but he hated them.

Darla knew hatred, she had experienced it herself and she had seen it in the faces of others and it was what she had seen looking out at her from her son's eyes.

What had Holtz done to her sweet baby boy?

Their expressions were somber as they made their way back to the hotel.

"What happened, Daddy?" Fred asked, upset, seeing the bruising on Angel's face. "Is Connor alright?"

"You found him." Cordelia didn't need to make it question.

"Yeah." Angel responded. "We talked."

"Looks to me like he likes to talk with his hands." Cordelia observed.

"Oh, he didn't do this to me." Angel assured them.

"Not most of it, any way." Darla put in.

"So, is it for sure then? That kid really was Connor?" Gunn asked.

"Steven. His name is Steven now." Darla corrected. "He's still our son."

"Where is he?" Fred asked.

"Not sure. But he knows where we are. He'll be fine."

"Actually, he might not be." Wesley told them solemnly.

"What do you mean?" Darla demanded.

"Something may have escaped from Quor-toth before we had time to close the portal." Cordelia told them.

"Lorne's dimensional magic expert was picking up some seriously bad vibes." Gunn added.

"So nobody actually saw anything else come out?"

"Not exactly."

"And if my son was the last thing that came through..."

"But what if it was some vengeance-y else thing that's after Connor?" Fred was close to tears.

"He survived Quor-toth this long." Darla tried to reassure the little girl. "He can take care of himself."

"Okay. So he survived and unspeakable hell dimension." Cordelia made it sound like this was the easiest thing in the world to do. "Fred's a little kid and she managed that."

"Hey!" The seven year old objected.

"You can't just leave him alone in the streets of Los Angeles!" The Seer finished.

"He's got to come back on his own." Angel insisted. "And he will. Just as soon as he realizes what he needs."

"And what's that?"

Fred spoke up quietly. "His Mommy and Daddy."

* * *

He had been expecting monsters.

It had been drummed into his head before he could walk unaided that, despite the fact that they could look like everybody else, vampires were evil, soulless monsters and that the two who called themselves his parents were the worst of them.

There was something different about them, something he could sense even if he couldn't understand it.

They had wanted him to come with him, they had been happy to see him, sad when he wouldn't come with them, scared for him.

Monsters couldn't feel...could they?

If he came from monsters, did that make him one?

He had seen a little girl in the hotel when he broke through the portal.

His father had told him about his sister, the girl he had wanted to save from the monsters and certain death.

He had called her Caroline.

For years in Quor'toth, he had mourned her, knowing that the vampires who were his parents had surely killed her by now, but she had been alive. The monsters had moved to protect her.

He didn't understand.

His father had said that he would only ever understand about himself if he went to the vampires.

If he wanted answers, he knew where he had to look.

TBC.

_Author's Note: 'Tacos and Tea Parties' has just become the longest story I have posted. Next chapter: Connor spends some time with his parents, and little Fred. Please review._


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.

**Requirements:**

Little Fred loving tacos  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

**Author's Note I:** To dawnroberts - Since Holtz renamed Connor when he kidnapped him, I figured he'd have wanted to do the same with little Fred, so he was going to call her Caroline after his wife. I thought Sarah would have been too painful a choice for him, given his daughter's fate.

* * *

**Chapter 15**

"Can I try it? Please?" Fred looked up at Lorne with pleading eyes.

Chuckling indulgently, he passed the Geiger counter to her. "Sure thing, sweetpea. You probably know more about these things than I do."

An earnest expression on her face, the little girl moved slowly around the lobby, her eyes fixed on the counter as it registered the energy that had come from the portal. "Okay, this is where the portal was, so that's probably why there's a reading here."

"I'll mark it." Gunn volunteered, scrawling a chalked 'X' on the spot she had indicated.

"Uh-oh." Fred chewed her lower lip as the Geiger counter registered another spike. "It looks like something might have come in here." She continued moving, the blips from the counter getting louder and more frequent. Wow. Something here is pretty. . ." Colliding with Connor, she came close to falling flat on her back before he reached out a hand to steady her. "Thanks." She smiled up at him. "Connor?"

"Steven." Angel corrected gently, not wanting the teenager yelling at her for calling him by the name he refused to go by.

"Hey." Connor seemed uncomfortable. "I - ah, I thought I'd come by like you said."

"I'm glad you did." Angel told him immediately, before turning to make the introductions. "Everybody, this is Steven. Steven, this is Fred, Gunn, Cordelia, Wesley and that's Lorne. Darla's upstairs."

"No she's not." Darla corrected him, moving down the stairs.

"So, are we about done here?"

"I think we covered everything in here." Gunn told him, taking Fred's hand. From what little he knew of Connor, he knew that it would not be impossible for him to initiate a fight and he didn't want the seven year old around for that. "Maybe we could take this outside, see if anything's hopping there."

"That would be a good idea." Angel said gratefully.

"I'll join you." Wesley volunteered, following them outside.

"Uhm, yeah, I - I have a thing." Not pausing to elaborate, Lorne made his exit.

"Yes, so, uhm, I just be sure to hold all your calls." Cordelia moved towards the office. "You just - you guys take your time."

"Thanks."

With the others gone, the silence seemed to stretch endlessly.

"So. . . You hungry?"

Connor shrugged in response to his father's question. "What do you have?"

"Uh. . . I think we let Gunn and Fred do the shopping, so lots of tacos, definitely."

"We can go out." Darla cut in.

"What? Where?" As if on cue, Cordelia emerged from the office, one hand cupped behind her ear.

"Cordy?" Angel approached warily, not wanting to jolt her out of her vision.

"Angel! It's a bar! Vampires. A gang of them!" She all but shouted the words, as if she was afraid he wouldn't be able to hear her over a non-existent din.

"Cordy?"

"Angel, can you hear me?" Cordelia called out, picturing Angel amid a crowd in a bar. "I can see her. A woman. Angel! She's all alone. She doesn't see them. Angel, you have to hurry!" She staggered slightly as her vision dissipated.

"Slow down." Angel caught her shoulders to steady her.

"There is a woman at a bar there is a gang of vampires that are after her. You have to help her."

"So much for holding my calls, huh?" He quipped.

"Sorry."

"We've got work, I take it?" Darla didn't need to ask.

"Yeah." Angel turned to Connor. "Listen, we have to go out for a while."

"It's okay."

"It's kind of our job."

"Yeah. Whatever." Connor didn't seem overly devastated.

"It could be kind of dangerous. There's a lot of killing and violence." Angel rambled for a while before remembering exactly how well his son could fight. "You wanna come?"

The teenager's eyes lit up at the prospect. "Okay."

* * *

_**Later**_

Holtz's expression was dark as he sat in the dismal motel room, brooding over what he had seen in the bar.

His son – he would never consider Steven to be anything else – fighting at the side of his demon parents and enjoying it.

When the teenager entered, he moved directly to his adopted father's side, crouching next to him. "Father, they were everything that you said. They tried to trick me. Thought that they could deceive me by saving people. It didn't work. I've seen their true faces."

Holtz's expression was somber. "And I've seen yours."

"Father?"

"You truly are their son."

"Don't say that!"

"It is true, son."

"You're wrong!" Connor protested desperately.

"I'm not wrong. Anyone who saw you together would realize - that's where you're meant to be - at their side."

"No!"

"It was your need for them that drove you across the dimension."

"I don't need them!"

"Go back to them, Steven."

"Why are you doing this? Why?" Men didn't cry, or Connor would have. "God gave me to you."

"Yes." Holtz clasped the boy's hands. "It was God's plan for us to be together. Nothing will ever persuade me otherwise." Only the devil's influence had prevented him from rescuing the little girl too. "But now it's time for me to give you back."

"They're demons!" Connor protested.

"And you're the bastard son of two demons."

"Then I'm a demon." His expression was dejected.

"You're not. God help me, I don't know what you are, but I'm not the one to give you answers, and there are answers." He laid a hand on Connor's head, as if giving him his blessing. "Go and find them out."

He didn't intend for the boy to see him alive again.

* * *

****

_**Later**_

Connor was quiet, and very subdued after Cordelia's light had washed over him. He scarcely seemed aware of his father's presence when Angel had sat down next to him.

"Your mo. . . Darla and I have got to go out for a few hours. Could you keep an eye on Fred? I don't want her to be by herself."

"Okay." Connor agreed, albeit unenthusiastically. "Where is she?"

"Upstairs in her room. It's the third door on the right."

"Fine." Connor headed upstairs.

Darla emerged from the office. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." Angel lied. He didn't think he would ever be ready to talk to the man who had stolen their son's babyhood and childhood from them.

"Let's go, then."

* * *

"Would you like another taco?" Fred offered Connor a plate of what she considered an essential element to any self-respecting tea party.

"Thanks." Despite his initial skepticism, the teenager had found that he quite enjoyed the Mexican specialty.

It was certainly a refreshing change from the usual fare in Quor'toth and, though he wouldn't have admitted it, it was nice not to have to hunt for hours before he could eat.

"We can play something else if you don't like tea party." Fred suggested, watching him anxiously.

"No. It's okay. This is. . ." He paused, searching for the word, which he hadn't had to use very often in his life. "Fun."

"Good." She beamed at him. "More tea?"

"Please." Connor held the tiny china cup while she refilled it with sugary water.

"Wesley said that you're my big brother now, not my baby brother." She pouted. "I used to be the oldest. I took you out of Mommy when you were stuck."

"Really?" Connor barely heard her. His eyes were dark as he remembered his time in Quor'toth, a part of him wishing, despite himself, that he had been able to grow up in this world, as strange as it seemed. He felt a small hand touch his.

"I got lost once." Fred told him quietly. "Like you. I was all by myself. When I came back nothing seemed real. It was all different, and I was scared."

"How long?" Connor asked. Quor'toth might have been a hell on Earth, but at least he had had Holtz to shield him when he was small and vulnerable.

"Two years. Maybe a bit more. At least that's what Daddy and the others told me. It didn't feel like time passed the same in Pylea as here. Sometimes it was like I had always been there, sometimes it was like I had just got there."

"I don't remember being lost." He felt uncomfortable thinking of Quor'toth as anything but home. If it wasn't his home, if he belonged here, with his birth parents, then he had to think of Holtz as having stolen him, something he didn't want to do. "Isn't it time for you to sleep yet?"

"Mommy and Daddy will be back by then." The seven year old told him blithely. "They'll only need to talk to Holtz for a little. . . uh-oh." Realizing what she had just revealed, she looked stricken.

"I have to go. I have to get there." Connor barely got the words out of his mouth before Fred had jumped up from her seat, attempting to barricade the door of her room.

"Daddy said to stay here."

Had she been a foot or so taller and a decade older, he would have moved her forcibly, but under the circumstances he couldn't force his way past her.

"Get out of the way." He spoke in a low, threatening voice. "Now."

She regarded him calmly. "You're not going to hurt me." She informed him matter of factly. "I knew that Daddy wouldn't and that Mommy wouldn't and I know that you won't."

"He's my father, I have to warn him." Words weren't exactly his strong suit, but he persevered.

It was on the tip of Fred's tongue to object, to tell him that Angel was their father, but she didn't. Holtz mightn't have been Connor's father by blood - but Angel wasn't related to her either, and that didn't stop him being her Daddy.

She moved away from the door. Connor looked ready to bolt, but she held her hand out to halt him.

"I can get us there faster."

* * *

When they emerged from the field that had transported them from the Hyperion to the motel, the first thing Connor registered, aside from a sense of disorientation, was the sound of pleading.

"Don't make me do it. I can't."

"We already know you can. You promised. You said you'd do anything for me. Come on, Justine. I'm not asking you to follow me into hell. Just help send me there. Do it!"

Horrorstruck, he watched the man he considered his father guide the hand of a sobbing woman to stab him in the neck, sending blood spurting from the wound.

"Oh God." Fred's voice was soft.

Hearing her, Holtz turned, expending his rapidly diminishing energy reserves, but saw nothing, and dismissed the sound as his imagination.

His eyes turned glassy as he drifted out of life. His expression was sickeningly triumphant.

Crouching in the shadows, Connor gestured to Fred to stay exactly where she was, and waited for her silent acknowledgement before standing and moving slowly down the alley. Pausing for a moment and looking over his shoulder, he couldn't see Fred where she was hidden, and knew she couldn't see him.

For her part, Fred knew not to look.

He was only two steps behind Justine when she noticed him. Tears streamed down her cheeks, which she scrubbed at, leaving a bloody smear instead. "I'm sorry. I tried to stop it."

"Angelus?"

"He hit me from behind," she told him, gasping slightly between small sobs. "He was still alive when I woke up."

Hoping he was buying this, she rose slowly from her knees and stood before him. After a moment, when she was sure her legs were working probably and she wasn't going to throw up, she continued. "He asked me to take care of you. After we kill the vampire, we can take him out of here, bury him properly."

For a long moment, Connor said nothing. Justine started to worry, thinking briefly that she might not be having much success convincing him. Then he looked her in the eyes and nodded sullenly. He looked like _he_ was going to fall over _and_ throw up. Taking a timid step forward, she gently put her arms the younger man, whispering a promise that the vampire would pay for this.

Even Connor didn't hear the sound of her neck snapping over the roar of a truck speeding past the alley. He dropped her corpse down beside Holtz, and moved with heavy steps back to Fred, his face stained with the first tears he'd shed in as long a time as he could remember.

She stood slowly, and without looking down the alley, stepped forward, gently put her arms around the older boy, whispering a promise that everything would be okay.

He wished that he could believe her.

TBC.

_Author's Note: I'd like to thank gidgetgirl for inspiring the end of this chapter. I've had it in mind since her suggestions about Connor's birth._

_Author's Note II: Bit of a change to the end of this chapter._


	17. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** Since my name is not Joss Whedon, neither 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' or any of the characters associated with either show belong to me. I also don't own the story line, that is taken from gidgetgirl's 'The Little Physicist Challenge' (details below) posted at the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**The Little Physicist Challenge**

AU of Fred's role in AtS. Instead of disappearing as an adult, Fred disappeared from the library during a children's reading hour, when the little girl wandered off to go read the big kid books because the others were too easy for her. When the Fang Gang rescues her, she's spent 2-3 years in Pylea as a slave child, and Wesley, Gunn, and the others have to take care of her and convince her that everything will be alright again.

**Requirements:**

Little Fred loving tacos.  
Gunn and Wes vying for the little girl's affections  
Little Fred having nightmares  
Cordelia and Fred shopping

* * *

**Chapter 16**

"Con. . .I mean Steven, stop, please." Fred pleaded, clutching his hand tightly, getting towed along as the teenager stormed off.

"Don't!" He snapped angrily. "Don't call me that. That's what _he _called me." His eyes, hard and cold, softened slightly as he took in the frightened expression on the little girl's face. "Can you use that trick to get back to the hotel again?"

"Yes, in a little while." Fred met his gaze, her expression matching the stubbornness of his own. "But I won't. Not without you."

"You have to." He tried to sound reasonable, although this was the last thing in the world he felt like being. "The others will be worried when they see that you're not at the hotel."

"Then come with me. Mommy and Daddy will be worried about you too."

"I can't."

All he wanted to do was run, to be alone, to get to grips with what had just happened.

He wasn't stupid.

He knew exactly what Holtz had had in mind when he had arranged his own death, what he had wanted it to look like, the measures he had confidently expected him to take.

"Then I'm not going either." She tightened her grasp on his hand. Even with his enhanced strength, he would have had a difficult time prying her loose, at least not without risking breaking her fingers. "I'm not going to leave you all alone."

"I'll be fine."

"No you won't." Even Connor could not argue with the finality of her tone. "You shouldn't be alone now."

* * *

****

**_Hyperion Hotel_**

Angel did his best not to clutch at the envelope in his hand, not wanting it to be creased when he handed it to his son, but he was fighting a losing battle.

Although Holtz had made it clear that he had no objections to him or Darla reading the letter before they gave it to Connor, indeed, that he expected them to do so, neither of them had been comfortable with the idea of reading a private communication to Connor from the man who, though they loathed admitting it, had been the only father he had ever known.

"Connor?" Darla called as soon as she entered the lobby. "Fred?" When there was no answer she frowned.

"Maybe they're upstairs." Angel did his best to sound at ease, to ignore the nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

Even if Fred couldn't hear Darla's call, Connor should have been able to.

Meeting Darla's eyes, he silently suggested that she check the kitchen while he made his way to Fred's room.

"They're not downstairs." Darla reported a few minutes later, falling silent as she reached the doorway to Fred's room, her gaze falling on the same thing that had caught Angel's attention - the abandoned tea party.

Now she knew for certain that something was wrong.

Fred _never_ left a taco unfinished.

* * *

"It's okay to be sad, you know." Fred whispered tentatively, squeezing her brother's hand gently as they sat on a bench in the middle of a deserted park.

"Men don't cry." The response was wooden.

"Sure they do. Gunn cries all the time when we watch 'Bambi', and Daddy cried when you were gone."

"He did?" He couldn't keep the quavering note of hope from his voice.

Now that he knew that the man he had been taught to call 'Father' had never cared for him, except as an instrument of vengeance, it felt good to know that _someone _did.

"He did." Fred confirmed. "Mommy too, and me. We all wanted you back so badly."

"He said that we were supposed to be together, that God wanted it this way, that God gave me to him." Connor spoke slowly. "That he saved me, that the demons were going to hurt me."

"That was a mistake." Fred told him immediately. "A bad guy - his name was Sahjahn - made that up. That's why Wesley took you away."

"And gave me to Fath. . . Holtz?" He badly wanted this to be the case.

"Uh. . .not exactly." The little girl faltered a little, unsure of how she should balance the truth with Connor's need to be able to see some goodness in Holtz.

"It was a lie." Connor said bleakly. "He never wanted me for a son - he just wanted to get revenge on them."

"If all he wanted to get revenge on Mommy and Daddy for stuff they did before they had souls, he would have killed you." Fred pointed out with impeccable logic. "That would have hurt them lots more. I think that Holtz was very sad. He didn't mean to hurt you. He missed his kids and he wanted a baby to love - he wanted you."

"And you." Connor added mechanically. "We were supposed to be a family, the three of us."

"I already have a family." She moved closer to him, sensing his need for reassurance, and gently cradled one of his hands in her two smaller ones. "And so do you."

* * *

"I don't understand." Cordelia said, bewildered. "I mean, Connor running off, not that big a surprise, but why would he take Fred?"

"Do you think that he will harm her, Princess?" Groo asked, concerned.

"I doubt it." Wesley tried to sound reassuring. "She's just a little girl."

"Unless he wants to bring her to Holtz." Gunn voiced the suggestion none of them wanted to consider.

"Holtz is gone." Angel cut him off. "If he's taken her there, all they'll find is an empty room."

"We have to find them." Darla said.

"We should split up." Cordelia suggested, taking charge."Groo and I will head to the motel, see if we can find them there. Wes, you and Gunn do a sweep around this area, see if they've got lost on the way here and Mr and Mrs Bloodhound can drive around, see if they can pick up anything."

It was a measure of the seriousness of the situation that neither Angel nor Darla made any objections to her choice of nicknames.

* * *

"There, there." Fred patted Connor's back soothingly. "It's going to be alright."

"How can you know that?"

"Because I know that Mommy and Daddy love you, and I love you, and Cordelia, Wesley, Lorne and Gunn love you. You're going to be okay."

* * *

"Are you getting anything?" Darla demanded after several tense minutes of driving.

"Not ye. . .wait." Angel slowed the car down, catching sight of a flash of pink. he pulled over, climbing out, Darla not far behind.

Connor was sitting on a bench, Fred on his knee, allowing her to hug him, awkwardly returning her gesture.

"Hey, you two." Angel kept his voice soft, not wanting to startle them, or to frighten his son into running again.

Fred looked up, giving them an angelic smile. "Hi Daddy, hi Mommy." She caught sight of the serious expressions on their faces. "Am I in trouble?"

"Not this time." Darla was too relieved to be mad.

Angel lifted Fred up so that their faces were level. "What are you doing out here? I thought you were going to wait at the hotel."

"We were, but then we had to go." She told him, deliberately vague. Her small face took on a troubled expression at she tightened her grasp around his neck, whispering in his ear. "Holtz is dead."

"What?"

"He killed himself." Connor filled in stonily.

"Oh, baby. . ." Darla instinctively reached out for her son.

"I'm alright." He said gruffly.

"We talked." Fred told their parents sagely. She squirmed slightly in Angel's arms until he set her on her feet, movinbg to Connor's side. "It's okay now, isn't it?"

The teenager managed a slight smile. "Yeah."

"So. . ." Angel met his son's eyes. "We should probably get back to the hotel."

"I don't know. . ."

"Please, Connor." Fred took his hand, looking up at him with a beseeching expression he found it difficult to be unmoved by.

"Give it a chance for a while." Darla suggested. "See if it works out."

"It couldn't hurt to try, right?" Angel suggested hopefully.

"I guess." Connor nodded slowly. It felt good to be wanted."Alright."

Although neither Angel nor Darla tried to hug their son, correctly guessing that it was too soon to initiate that kind of contact, their beaming smiles spoke volumes.

"Come on." Fred smiled up at Connor, holding his hand. "Let's go home."

THE END.

_Author's Note: While I could probably continue and include events from Season Four and Five, I think it's time to end this story. I'm not ruling out the possibility of a sequel, though. Don't forget to review._


	18. My First Apocalypse, Chapter One

A long time ago, I wanted to write a sequel to this story, a sequel that I never got around to writing. However, my friend _**SionnachOghma**_ has adopted the premise, and the story of little Fred and her somewhat unconventional family continues in "My First Apocalypse"

The story will be posted under his ID, and listed under my faves. We opted to also post the first chapter here so that anyone who had this story on alert would know it was continuing.

* * *

**Author's Note I: **As the summary points out, this story is a continuation of Regan X's _Tacos and Tea Parties_. I'd like to point out for those who read that story when it was originally posted, we made a change to the ending, *****Spoiler Alert – have you read **_**Tacos **_**yet?*** **bringing Fred and Connor onto the scene of Holtz' death just a few seconds earlier, allowing him to witness the old goat's final betrayal. Killing Justine for her part in Holtz' plan, Connor made to run away, but was convinced by Fred to return home with her. *****Spoiler Ends*****

**Author's Note II: **On the relationship between Connor and Cordelia as it happened on the show, I have only this to say: Ew. Never.

* * *

**Chapter One  
**

**Heatwave**

The afternoon L.A sunshine glared down on Fred and Connor as they crossed the garden of the grounds of the Hyperion. The once ragged and overgrown garden, now frequently tended to by a loosely supervised Fred, who had torn up some of the myriad rows of mangy old roses in order to plant herbs and other small plants for mixing potions – something she did under much stricter supervision – smelled like a cross between an old country kitchen and the first flames of a wood fire. Fred suddenly remembered hearing of wildfires that had begun in Santa Barbara that morning. Though she knew there wasn't much chance that her garden was going to spontaneously combust, at least not by natural causes, she made a note to herself to use more water over the next few days to keep her hard work from drying and dying under the heat wave currently assaulting southern California, making even a normal L.A summer seem chilly and grey.

Connor lagged a little further behind the closer they got to the main doors, where Fred stopped to wait for him. She reached for the handle, but Connor grabbed her hand. "Are you sure they know?" he asked apprehensively.

Fred gave a solemn nod. "Someone would have called them before you left," she told him, her tone sympathetic.

"Maybe there was nobody here," Connor suggested desperately. "Maybe there was a message left, and they haven't…"

"It's daytime," Fred pointed out, as if any reminders were needed, "and even if they had to go somewhere through the sewers, they would have let us know."

Connor pulled a small mobile phone from his pocket, confirming glumly to himself that nobody had sent him any messages throughout the day. "I should give them time to cool off. I'm just gonna take a walk, or something…"

"You grew up in hell, where they called you the Destroyer; and _this_ you're too scared to face?" Fred scolded, trying not to laugh at her elder brother's sorry predicament.

"Well, wouldn't you be?" he demanded.

"You're damn right she would," came a yell from behind the doors, "and you should be too!" Connor took an involuntary step back out of the shade, to be stopped by another furious roar. "Don't even think about it! Get your butt in here now!" Fred gave him a half-pitying, half-encouraging smile, and pushed the doors open.

Angel was waiting at the bottom of the steps just inside the door, arms crossed, his expression furious. Off to the side, the Groosalugg stood by the weapons cabinet, observing anxiously, as if expecting sudden violence and wondering whose side he was supposed to be on, while Darla and Cordelia were sitting next to each other on the circular sofa, with similarly amused half-smiles. Behind the counter, a decidedly bored Gunn held the phone to his ear, distractedly asking the caller why she was so certain a demon was possessing her Pomeranian.

The moment they were inside, Fred dashed past Angel to where Darla and Cordy sat, leaving Connor alone with his father.

Angel waited expectantly for what seemed like a very long moment, but Connor said nothing. "Well?" he demanded before the silence threatened to take physical form a start a fight.

"It wasn't my fault," Connor blurted defensively. "I ignored everything he was saying; I was walking away. Then he just tackled me and started throwing punches for no reason!"

"Fair enough," Angel shrugged, suddenly seeming much calmer. "But you could easily have dealt with him just a _little_ more delicately. Wrist fractured in three places, two cracked ribs, a broken ankle…and I don't think I've ever heard of the victim of a schoolyard fight needing a _proctologist_ afterwards."

"Okay, you make it sound like…"

"You broke his _ass_!" Angel snapped, shooting a glare at Darla and Fred, who had erupted into sudden fits of giggles. "I figured in my time I'd done pretty much everything you can do to a person; but a broken butt? That's a new one on me!"

"So what would _you_ have done?" Connor shot at him. "You think I should have just put up with it?"

"Of course not, but you have to draw a line somewhere!"

"Or at least make sure the little punk is scared enough to keep his mouth shut when they ask him who beat him up," Darla chimed in.

"Not! Helping!" Angel snarled at her through gritted fangs, before rounding on Connor again. "His parents already called to let me know they were suing us for every penny they can get out of us."

"I'll go empty out that piggy bank in the office," Cordelia announced solemnly. "Eight whole dollars; may it bring them much happiness."

"No, with our luck, they'll probably go hire Wolfram & Hart, after which the best case scenario is we all wind up on the street."

"Well, how about while we're still here we try and get some work done?" Wesley asked, appearing in the doorway behind Connor.

"Real work, or demonically possessed rat-dogs? No, ma'am, I'm sure the pedigree _is_ in very high demand, though I don't think they're all that high on _demon_ wish lists, except maybe as appetizers."

Wesley spared a confused glance for Gunn before handing the thick paper file he was carrying to Angel. "Do you recall the McNamara brothers?"

"Do I _recall_ the jackasses who tossed me into a demon Thunderbowl and forced me to fight other demons under pain of death? Y'know, I think I might need a reminder."

"A tad snippy today, aren't we? Has he been fed yet?" Wesley asked the room.

"I don't know, but he skipped his nap mid-afternoon nap," Cordy told him. "That always makes him cranky."

"Hey!"

"Well, it seems that Val Trepkos and several of the other demons who escaped when we put the McNamaras out of business banded together afterwards. It turns out they've been working as muscle-for-hire ever since that night. They kept a fairly low profile, until last night, when they did this."

Angel opened up the file; his face screwing up in disgust at the photograph at the front of the assembled pages. "Charming," he noted, passing the file onto Darla, who briefly flicked through the photos with no apparent reaction before handing it to Cordelia, angling the folder so Fred couldn't see the contents. "Who were they?"

"The Svear priestesses," Wesley explained. "The last descendants of a very powerful line of practitioners in works of protection, the imbuing of powerful magical properties into weapons, tools and talismans, and journeys between the mystical realms. Well known for their ability to banish destructive forces from this world."

"How do you know it was the fight club guys?" Cordelia asked.

"One child survived; hiding in the basement. I couldn't get in to speak to her, but she described the attackers to Kate Lockley."

"Kate?"

"Yes. It seems she went into business for herself after being dismissed from the police force. Most of her work involves more ordinary affairs, but she's looked into a few cases involving vampires and demons. And of course," Wesley noted, "her contacts in LAPD are much better than mine. She had no trouble getting in to talk to the girl."

Angel glanced past Wesley. Fred followed his guys, but there was nothing to see. "Is there any particular reason she's not coming inside?" Angel asked.

"She will, once she's done on the phone. In the meantime, I have an idea of where the demons might be found. I called around to a few different spots where a group like this might hang out, or meet with perspective employers. The owner of a bar in Chinatown was a little too evasive, especially when I mentioned the priestesses."

At that moment, Fred saw who they were talking about. A woman stepped inside behind Wesley, her eyes moving slowly around the lobby, pausing ever so briefly first on Darla, her eyes narrowing slightly, then on her. Her blond hair was cut very short, and her left cheek had three long, thin scars, as if she had been scratched by either small claws or large nails, but Fred thought that she would have been very pretty if not for the massive dark circles under her eyes.

"Kate," Angel greeted her. "You look…" he hesitated slightly.

"Like I haven't slept in three days?" the woman responded with a strained smile while trying not to yawn. "Yeah. It's been a busy week."

"Lucky for some," Gunn grumbled, slamming down the phone in disgust.

"Well, if Trepkos and his buddies are running around doing _that_ to people, I think we just got pretty busy too," Angel remarked. "But first things first," he added, rounding on Connor once again. For his part, Connor lost what optimism he'd gained at the thought of hunting a pack of demon mercenaries when he realised he hadn't been forgotten as he'd hoped. "Don't think for a second that being expelled means you're exempt from education. Welcome to the wonderful world of home-schooling!"

Connor just shrugged with resigned disinterest. "Whatever."

"And you're grounded until further notice. That means no going out with your friends…"

"What friends?"

"…no T.V…."

"I don't watch T.V."

"…and no hunting."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah!" Angel exclaimed triumphantly. "See what happens when you break the rules? We're going hunting badass demon mercenaries, and you're staying here with Fred and Lorne."

Kate observed the whole bizarre exchange with a very confused look on her face.

"Got the address for that bar?" Angel asked Wesley. "Right, I know it. Darla and I will take the sewers. There's an alley behind the place that shouldn't be getting any sunlight at this time of day. We'll meet you there. What about the kid who survived? Any chance they'll try to go after her?"

"I doubt it," Kate told him. "There were pictures of the whole family all around the place, and they didn't even try looking for her. I guess whoever hired them was only worried about the grownups. Plus, I know the precinct Captain where they're keeping her. He owed my dad some pretty big favours; I convinced him to keep the part about the kid as quiet as possible."

"You coming with us for this one?"

Kate shrugged. "A whole bar full of demons is a little beyond what I'm used to, but if I can be any help, sure."

"Alright. Knives, stakes, maces, short axes and crossbows," Angel said to the Groosalugg, who was already plucking an armful of weapons from the cabinet. "Leave the long blades; I don't think we'll have that much room to maneuver if things get dicey. Lorne!" he yelled up the stairs. "You're babysitting!"

Fred couldn't make out the reply that came from Lorne's room, but Angel seemed to, and nodded satisfactorily. "Alright, you two, try and stay out of trouble for a couple of hours. No mixing potions unless Lorne's watching what you're doing," he reminded Fred, who nodded, "and no sneaking out," he warned Connor, who sulked.

Five minutes later, Fred and Connor were sitting alone in the lobby, while Lorne was in the office with a client of his who had been upstairs with him before the others left. The mousy young woman finished singing in a low, slightly scratchy voice, and Lorne began talking to her in a hushed tone. Whatever she'd come to ask him about must have been pretty interesting, because Connor, despite being twenty feet from the closed door, seemed to be listening with definite curiosity.

Fred pulled her schoolbooks from her bag and set them down. She opened her math book briefly, but then closed it again, remembering that she'd meant to tend to the garden. "You wanna help?" she asked Connor.

"I'd rather you teleported us to that bar," he suggested. "We could be finished and back here with answers before the others even got there."

Fred shook her head. "They'd know it was us. And besides, Daddy said these guys were pretty dangerous. If they're at the bar…"

"It'll be even more fun than if it's just a few vampires and loser demons."

"You're already in enough trouble. Do you want Daddy to start locking you up every time he goes out?"

Connor grumbled under his breath.

"Well, if you don't want to help me in the garden, I guess you could always just stay in here and read," Fred suggested lightly, knowing that sitting around with a book might well be the only thing that would bore him more than gardening.

"I'll go fill up the water can."

"Thanks!" said Fred, smiling widely.

Connor had no sooner disappeared inside the kitchen when he came rushing back in response to an ear-splitting scream from Fred, who was crouched, terrified amongst the rows of plants.

The garden had spontaneously combusted.


End file.
